Hotel operators in Dubai are adapting to try to cope with a huge increase in the number of tourists from China coming over to stay in the emirate, according to the Kempinski Mall of the Emirates’ general manager Slim Zaiane.
Dubai Tourism’s official statistics show that the numbers of people from China visiting the UAE increased by 12% last year to reach a peak of 875,000, and just over half a million have already made the trip in the first six months of this year.
Visa-on-arrival for tourists from China was introduced by the United Arab Emirates in September 2016.
Zaiane told Arabian Businessthat it was very promising to see that the Chinese were becoming increasingly aware of Dubai.
He points out that many hoteliers in Dubai are now beginning to adjust some of their food and beverage offerings to reflect the habits of the Chinese when they are on holiday, also singling out Kempinski for making sure that many of its team members are able to speak Chinese.
Zaiane says that Kempinski has also changed in regard to WeChat payments and other ways to make the lives of Chinese tourists easier.
Chinese tourists often have very different travelling habits in comparison to the great majority of other tourists that Dubai receives.
The influx of Chinese tourists has also benefited the whole of the hospitality industry in China by making sure that occupancy rates are staying consistently high, even in spite of the increase in open or planned hotels in the country.
Zaiane says that there are always new source markets and diversification that the industry can look to and hopefully further drive the demand for, adding that it was the right decision in order to ensure that occupancy numbers are maintained in the years ahead.
In order to give further assistance to Chinese tourists visiting Dubai, the Dubai Mini Assistant was launched by Dubai Tourism earlier in 2019, which comes with 10 new digital audio tours that are mobile-based.
‘Chinese traveller standards’ were also updated earlier this year by the Dubai College of Tourism for staff members who deal with tourists on a regular basis in order to assist them with providing guests with more personalised experiences for the duration of their stay in Dubai.
According to a Colliers International report that was published in December 2018, the number of tourists from China all across the GCC is expected to increase by as much as 81% from the 2018 figure of 1.6 million to as many as 2.9 million by the end of this year.
Anyone travelling to Dubai, anywhere else in the UAE or the rest of the world should take out travel insurance before they set off on their journey.
Travel insurance is a great way to ensure that travellers are covered for the potential financial consequences of possible problems such as the theft of personal goods, accidents or illness occurring while away from home.
