The CEO of UAE-based Rotana Hotels has said the Qatar accord will serve to accelerate the recovery of UAE’s hospitality industry as it gets back to its feet in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The positive impact is likely to echo across several tourism-related sectors including aviation, retail, and hospitality, industry experts agreed.
“Following what was undoubtedly the toughest year on record for the hospitality industry, it is important to unite efforts to promote travel and tourism throughout the Middle East,” said Guy Hutchinson, CEO and vice president of Rotana Hotels.
“The restoration of ties between the UAE and Qatar will have numerous positive effects across many industries such as cross-border trade, investment, aviation, and travel & tourism sectors, accelerating the speed of recovery in 2021,” he continued.
The UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt on Tuesday in signing an accord with Qatar during a summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders, effectively ending a three-and-a-half year split between the countries.
While Dubai’s real estate sector is likely to reap the biggest benefits from the Qatar Accord in the long run, the emirate’s tourism sector could see a faster positive impact, said industry stakeholders.
“Dubai’s hospitality sector is more likely to see an immediate impact as Qatari tourists begin to return to the emirate. Whilst Qatari tourists were not so significant in terms of overall quantum of tourists visiting Dubai, accounting for 176,000 out of 14.9 million overnight visitors in 2016, their spending power and affinity towards luxury properties is likely to underpin stronger demand levels in this market segment,” said Taimur Khan, head of research at Knight Frank.
“More so, as both corporate and leisure inbound tourism increases we will also see the emirate’s retail and F&B sectors benefit from this trend,” he added.
Full recovery of Qatari tourism to Dubai, however, will be gradual given that multiple countries across the world continue to grapple with the pandemic.
“Qatar has, in the past, been a large market for the UAE. However, taking into account the new world norms, it will take time to return to the previous numbers,” said Hutchinson.
The aviation industry also stands to benefit from the restoration of ties with Qatar, with low-fare carriers Flydubai and Air Arabia expected to be among the big winners.
“The restoration of intra-Gulf links should feed through to lower fares and less flight time for travellers, providing a particular advantage to upcoming events such as Expo in 2021 and FIFA World Cup 2022, aiding to boost the overall GCC tourism sector,” explained Hutchinson.
Direct routes to and from Qatar, from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, were halted as part of the country blockade implemented in June 2017. It meant passengers from the four countries travelling to or from Qatar were forced to take connecting flights, through Kuwait or Oman for example, while Qatar Airways was prevented from travelling over the respective airspaces.
That changed on Monday when Saudi Arabia lifted its ban and reopened its borders to Qatar and after the historic agreement was signed in Al Ula at the GCC summit on Tuesday, the other three countries are expected to follow suit.
Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/456954-uae-hotel-group-boss-sees-tourism-positives-in-new-qatar-agreement