Top hospitality industry leaders will share their knowledge, best practices and future vision for hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities in Dubai, UAE, at the three-day Vision Conference, The Hotel Show Dubai.

The conference is being held as part of The Hotel Show Dubai, from September 28 to 30.

Currently travel and tourism sector contribute approximately 20 per cent of Dubai’s gross domestic product (GDP). Moreover, the emirate’s hotel industry has expanded three-fold in the last 15 years.

Issam AbdulRahim Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, will present the keynote address at the conference on September 28 highlighting the next stage of Dubai Tourism’s vision for the future.

“The show plays a key role for Dubai and the hospitality sector, helping to attract new investment, showcase Dubai and contribute to ultimately make the emirate one of the world’s most visited cities. As we work towards Dubai’s Tourism Vision including attracting 20 million annual visitors by 2020, a key focus is ensuring a consistent growth of the emirate’s hotel inventory to ensure we cater for current and future demand. The Hotel Show is an important step towards achieving our ambitious targets,” Kazim said.

In 1999, Dubai’s 378-strong hotel industry comprised 254 hotels and 124 hotel apartments, offering a total of 25,188 room keys.  Today, Dubai’s hotel industry has expanded to include a further 256 properties to reach a total of 634 establishments and 88,888 room keys – an increase of over 350 per cent - and by 2020, the city is targeting 160,000 rooms.

The Hotel Show Dubai is the largest dedicated exhibition for hotel and hospitality professionals in the region. Over 17,000 decision-makers from across the industry supply chain are expected to attend this year’s event. – TradeArabia News Service