Dubai is aiming its focus on mid-market hotels in a bid to attract a larger percentage of millennial and family travel business.
The move is in line with the city’s growth of mid-scale room stock aligned with requirements of the millennial and family travel segments from emergent markets such as China, Africa, Brazil and India. 
In addition, with the emirate targeting 20 million visitors per year by 2020 and with upcoming arrival of mega projects such as Dubai Expo 2020 and number of world-class theme parks, it is imperative for Dubai to scale up its accommodation options.
“The newly affluent mid-class segment in developing countries such as China, Africa, Brazil and India have sparked development of more mid-market options in Dubai. A recent study by PwC shows that young travellers from Asia and Africa, even those who can afford luxury, are opting to stay in affordable hotels. This shift in focus among a powerful travel segment has presented a host of opportunities to investors in the GCC hospitality industry and helped to diversify our tourism offering to fit more developing source markets and groups,” said Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
Millennial travellers represent 20% of international travellers at present and are expected to undertake 320 million international trips per year by 2020, offering long-term opportunities to cities that cater to the needs and requirements of this itinerant segment. This, coupled with increasing number of young families from developing countries such as India and China holidaying in Dubai, has led to an influx of value-based options.
The move to highlight the mid-market segment is gaining traction, with 44% of rooms to be delivered this year falling into the mid-market segment and an additional 20,363 rooms expected to enter the market between 2016 and 2020.
