British tourists shun UAE for cheaper holidays

The UAE needs to do more to develop its budget hotel sector or risk losing tourists to cheaper ­destinations, a leading UK travel organisation has warned. A slowing UK economy, a surge in fuel prices and fierce competition from low-cost destinations, together with the perception of the UAE as an expensive holiday destination, were costing the country revenue, said ABTA, the UK's travel association that represents more than 5,500 travel agencies and 900 tour operations. "The UAE is well known for its five-star and luxury resorts and right now there aren't a lot of options in the budget sector, which might cause a bit of a drop in the number of British tourists because that's what the majority could afford right now," said Frances Tuke, a spokeswoman for ABTA. Ms Tuke said there was a sharp drop this summer in the number of bookings to usual tourism destinations such as Spain and other parts of Europe, while cheaper destinations including Turkey and Egypt had recorded a 30 per cent rise in bookings. Although ABTA had no current record of the number of tourists travelling to the UAE, she said there was a general trend for UK travellers to opt for budget hotels and competitive packages. "There is no indication that the number of travellers has decreased; it's where they travel to that has changed. The cheaper the destination, the more attractive it is right now." One in five people from the UK, which accounts for the ­largest group of inbound tourists to ­Dubai, said they would delay a ­family ­holiday because of money worries, according to a recent study by ­Mintel, a consumer ­research firm. The repeat visitor rate to the UAE has dropped by about six per cent this year, prompting concern in the travel agency sector, said ­Kulwant Singh, the managing director of Lama Tours, a Dubai travel agency. "If tourists come once to the UAE, they won't repeat their visit because the rates are now too expensive," he said. The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai is open to the idea of giving tourists more options and developing the budget segment of the market. "We need to start looking at the broader picture - not just the five-star hotels," said a DTCM spokesman. Airlines have also started offering incentives to travel to the UAE, such as special package deals. Emirates, for instance, is offering business and first class passengers a free night in a luxury Dubai hotel. The airline's economy class passengers miss out on the deal, however. The Dubai Government is ­planning to introduce a new ­budget airline, FlyDubai, and is targeting a mid-2009 launch. The airline will serve a potential ­customer base of two billion people living within five hours' flying time of Dubai. Premier Inn, the British budget hotel chain that has a partnership with Emirates in the ­region, has ­secured sites in Ras al ­Khaimah and Umm al Qaiwain for ­developing hotels, the company announced this month. It already has sites at Dubai ­Investments Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai International Airport, Dubai al Jadaf and at the Capital Centre in Abu Dhabi. "We have been open for about four months in Dubai and so far the majority of our guests are from the UK because they know our brand and our rates are competitive," said Darroch Crawford, the managing director of Premier Inn in the Middle East. The company aims to operate more than 6,000 rooms in the GCC region by 2012. "The more budget hotels there are in this ­region, the more tourists would be ­attracted to the destination," said Mr ­Crawford. [e-mail]