A new classification system for Dubai’s hotels and serviced apartments is to be unveiled soon by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
The current classification system is by now more than a decade old and new practises and classifications in the global hospitality industry have occurred over the years.
DTCM has extended the classification system to as many hotel categories as possible. This enables a division of leisure, city and business hotels, which will also be applicable to hotel apartments.
The leisure hotels category will be divided into beach resorts, theme park hotels, desert resorts and boutique hotels. City hotels categories will also include airport, budget and shopping hotels.
All-suite, wellness and heritage hotels will have their own classifications.
DTCM has benchmarked the new classification system against hotels in Europe, South Africa and the USA. Hotels will be informed that in order to receive a higher star number, they will have to update services to include leisure and corporate facilities, address health and safety issues as well as to make the brands within a hotel group quite distinctive.
The hotels rating system in Dubai will remain from one to five star, while serviced apartments will be rated from ‘basic’ to ‘standard’ and the highest ‘luxury’.
by Jonna Simon