In yet more evidence that Dubai’s phenomenal building boom of the past decade may not be over, Al Habtoor Group confirms that it is exploring plans to build what would be the biggest hotel in the United Arab Emirates.
At 2,000 guestrooms, the project would be larger than the 1,539-key Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, which is the UAE’s biggest hotel.
The project remains in preplanning, and Chairman Khalaf al Habtoor says his group is not seeking a partner for funding or managing. "I hate partnerships," he tells The National of Abu Dhabi.
Habtoor Hotels owns and manages four properties in Dubai and two in Beirut. A seventh hotel, the 308-key Habtoor Island Resort & Spa, is set to open this year on The Palm Jumeirah.
Dubai is banking on continued growth in its cruise industry, additional exhibitions and increased efforts to promote tourism to help absorb an anticipated 10,000 new guestrooms in 2011. Through the first nine months of 2010, Dubai added more than 9,000 guestrooms to its citywide inventory, an increase of about 15%. Tourism directly accounts for about 19% of Dubai’s GDP.