A new study by hospitality consultancy HVS International has found that Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha have emerged as the three most expensive Middle Eastern markets to develop hotels in the five- and four-star categories, Emirates Business has reported. The three least expensive regional markets to develop a hotel in are Damascus, Amman and Cairo in the same hotel categories, according to the report.
Although the market in the past was accustomed to seeing five-star hotels charging $500,000 to $800,000 a room in Dubai, the current global economic conditions as well as hotel market re-alignments regionally, would make such investments 'non-viable' for a few years to come, the report said.
'With the cost of raw materials fluctuating and the global economic conditions shifting the types and patterns of demand, developers are becoming sceptical about when to build, what to build and whether to commit to construction contracts,' said the report.
