Hotel reservations essential in Dubai

Dubai has used several slogans to lure tourists over the years. Some of the more notable ones have stressed Dubai's lights and it's shopping facilities - even suggesting it was Manhattan in desert sand.

However, not all slogans should be heeded and it is definitely not advisable to board a flight to the Persian Gulf emirate without a hotel reservation.

Those who do should expect an exhausting search for a hotel room as the glittering metropolis' 32,616 hotel beds are almost always fully booked. An exception is the summer season when the temperature in Dubai is extremely high.

"In Dubai, many hotels are fully booked in September for the period from October through April," according to the reception desk at the five-star Dubai hotel The Palace Old Town.

"You can get a reservation at short notice only in the summer. At that time of year the cost is about 30 percent less," said Arnold General, who takes care of reservations at Dubai Marine Beach Resort & Spa.

As daily temperatures in the June-September period average 40 degrees Celsius in the shade with high humidity, tourism officials have been coming up with new ways of attracting tourists.

Apart from rebates and special offers that add one free overnight stay to reservations of three or four nights, there also are activities in well air-conditioned areas.

An example is a spa package offered with the festival Dubai Summer Surprise. This is available in 25 wellness oases where tourists can get a massage or participate in a sport or other activity.

According to hotel operators, these offers are most commonly used by Britons, Germans and Russians who can't afford the winter prices of the luxury hotels.

In the cooler months, Dubai hotels have no problem filling their rooms - quite the opposite. Travellers who do not book through a travel agency with a fixed number of rooms on hand, are often disappointed.

In the high season, even business travellers have to accept a room in a neighbouring emirate. Sometimes they are amazed to find themselves in a place where alcohol is not served and may spend a long time travelling to Dubai the next morning in heavy traffic.

The average price of an overnight stay in Dubai in 2007 was 700 dirham ($NZ278). After Arabs, Europeans made up the second largest group of hotel guests in Dubai last year.

What is the reason for the shortage of hotel beds in the emirate? After all, in the last 10 years more that 60 hotels have opened in Dubai. Some observers believe the marketing success of the metropolis, which has portrayed Dubai worldwide as a luxury travel destination, simply has been so great that investors could not keep pace.

The opening of the top hotel Burj al-Arab in 1999 attracted so much attention that Dubai went from being an exotic destination to a playground for curious tourists.

Certainly among the more spectacular projects created in Dubai is the hotel Atlantis on The Palm Jumeirah, a series of artificial islands that form a palm when viewed from the sky. Due to open in the coming months, the 2,000-room Atlantis lies at the end of palm island and has a water park and an enormous aquarium with plenty of space for giant fish to frolic.

Construction continues on palm island. Some of the completed residences are already occupied.

Internet: www.dubaitourism.ae, E-Mail: dtcm-gedubaitourism.ae.

- AAP