Top Trends Driving the Hospitality Industry in Dubai This Year

by Zaara 04, Feb 2022

The Emirate is growing well with its diversification strategy and the launch of Warner Bros World and Dubai's first Theme Park and is drawing visitors from around the world. With so many changes already in motion, the trends that propel the hospitality industry are coming into full effect. 

These hospitality industry developments are not the cause or impact of a single route phenomenon but different socio-economic criteria in Dubai to describe the industry. The hospitality industry in Dubai is a significant contributor and a major employer to the UAE's economy. 

Now recognized as one of the top luxury destinations globally, Dubai has gained a reputation for attracting wealthy tourists. More travelers are expected to visit Dubai in the years ahead, inspired by conventional hotel scores and sustainable, customized, and culturally aware experiences.

With more and more visitors flying in, Dubai is among the top 10 destinations to visit, and more than ever, even restaurants are not far behind in the space. They are rising at a tremendous rate by the government, focusing on the hospitality industry.

Top Trends in the Dubai Hospitality Sector

Changing attitudes and expectations, be they social, economic, or technological, generate trends that guide an industry. The same is the case for the hospitality industry because of a boom in Dubai tourism as it sets to attract 40 million new tourists

The sector was jointly reshaped by numerous socio-cultural, economic, and technological developments.

Social Trends Accelerating Hospitality Industry in Dubai

Social developments include a shift in people's attitudes due to changes in lifestyles triggered by interaction with different human concepts, such as globalization. The top Social Trends transforming the hospitality industry in Dubai are:

1. Healthy Food

The nation has been on a healthy path, and no exception is the Middle East. The health and wellness trends cite a rise in demand for organic goods, nutritious food, label scrutiny, and environment-friendly food. In the Middle East, health and wellness are projected to rise at 7 percent, compared to 3 percent globally in the next five years.

2. Extended Home Concepts

Dubai has always been a tourist destination, so it has had a decent degree of foreign brand penetration, but the pattern has changed lately. With an emphasis on high quality, more and more homegrown brands are emerging and entering the hospitality market. 

It is seen as a symbol of a maturing market and a rise in the value of home-based foods and home-based ideas that diners are increasingly searching for.

3. Regional Aromas

Dubai has seen a rise and fall in interest in various cuisines, and the new trend is modern and traditional to capture the hospitality industry. Regional flavors are becoming a favored choice in Dubai with more homegrown concepts.

4. Takeaway Choices

As the city expands, people get busier, and the internet becomes more than a standard feature, takeaways and home deliveries reach the trend list. An exponential increase in options for food and distribution saves both time and money. 

Food delivery apps are on the rise, and greater acceptance is seen for real go-to foods such as meal plans.

Economic Trends Driving the Dubai Hospitality Sector

Economic patterns are not necessarily due to a shift in people's financial status and a change in people's consumption habits and attitudes. The main economic trends affecting Dubai's hospitality industry are as follows:

1. Quick Casuals and Pop-Ups

Tourists visiting Dubai are not class-bound anymore. There is more to a tourist destination. 

The number of families and middle-class tourists coming in. Pop-up restaurants and fast casuals are gaining popularity and are rising.

2. Deal for a Hotel-Restaurant

Independent restaurants and bars are working together as the next big trend that has shaken the hospitality industry. Both hotels and restaurants have chosen to work together in an atmosphere where restaurants can put their business insight into the new F&B trends on the table. 

The hotel can provide a world-class experience to give its clients a more diverse experience. This development has profound economic ramifications, opening up new possibilities for the hospitality industry and reducing the final brunt of costs involved. 

The Dubai hospitality industry is developing at a fast pace due to this tie-up.

3. Hotels at Mid-Prices

A mid-priced solution is becoming popular in the hospitality industry's restaurant segment and hotel room. Hotels that are comfortable but not as costly are trending with the rise of tourists belonging to all social classes and an even more significant projected growth. 

These provide a convenient and practical alternative to tourist stays' costly existence and allow anyone to visit the Emirate. This trend has mostly manifested itself concerning service apartments, mid-priced 3–4-star hotels, and Airbnb.

Technological Trends driving the Hospitality Companies in Dubai

The way the world goes, and more so given the way Dubai plans to grow, is technology. Therefore, substantial technological changes are anticipated from the hospitality industry in Dubai and the adoption of various upcoming features in restaurant technology and hotel technology. 

The key technology trends that have been driving the industry are as follows:

1. Control of Customer Relations

The hospitality industry has grown in all directions, with the diversification strategy well in progress. A direct consequence of this has been an increase in the supply of hotels and restaurants, but an increase in demand as tourism has grown but not the hospitality industry's rate. 

As a result, if there is a shortage of potential customers, the industry turns its attention to the present customer and the art of maintaining them. As a consequence, Customer Relations Management or CRM Technology brings the hospitality industry forward through its reigns. 

As advances in POS technologies have begun, like CRM tools, the need to maintain current customers is manifesting itself in technology. Creating a database of all clients, their orders, preferences, the amount they typically spend, and even their special days to schedule offers and schemes exclusive to them and create loyalty programs are trends that can help the Dubai hospitality industry. 

This process helps collect customer feedback digitally and feed it directly to your POS to determine customer service.

2. Use of POS Technology

Investment in point-of-sale technologies is no longer a trend pursued by just restaurants, and hotels hop on the wagon to ease operations, provide better data, be able to use the data, and even handle multiple fronts. A hotel restaurant billing app allows the hotel to track food sales at any possible source, including room service, bill it to one room without any hassle, provide thorough and separate reports, and even evaluate each transaction and customer in detail. 

This technology convergence has become the most significant trend in hospitality.

3. Penetration of the Internet

Given the young tourist population's more youthful existence, the internet is a vital part of the hospitality industry; it is almost a requirement. Combined with the fact that interconnectivity is a must, even in the hotel room itself, where an average guest uses at least three devices per room, it must increase the bandwidth. 

The average 300-room hotel in the Emirate would have to spend around 2.4 million Dirhams over five years upgrading their bandwidth to maintain quality standards to satisfy the demand. Geography characterized by hospitality alone is not just Dubai but the entire Middle East. 

Therefore, the region's developments are more unpredictable and rapidly evolving, with a significant effect on the global hospitality industry. 

 

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FAQs

What are the social trends that are promoting the Dubai hospitality sector?

The social trends are healthy food, extended home concepts, regional aromas, and takeaway choices.

What are the economic trends accelerating the hospitality industry in Dubai?

The economic trends are quick casuals & pop-ups, deals for a hotel restaurant, and hotels at mid-prices.

What are the technological trends that are driving the hospitality sector in Dubai?

The technological trends are control of customer relations, use of POS technology, and internet penetration.

Give an example of a POS technology in Dubai?

CRM (Customer Relations Management) technology.

How is the quick casual trend helping the Dubai hospitality industry?

 It is helping as tourists are no more class-bound and the focus is more on the destination.