Sharjah Tourism Body Launches New Hospitality Criteria System

Sharjah has launched a new hospitality criteria system in a bid to boost the emirate’s hotel services, according to a top government official. 

Blue Souq

The Emirate is one of the fastest growing tourism markets in the world with world class infrastructure and services contributing to the nation’s economy. A number of new hospitality and tourism projects are in the pipeline, adding to the Sharjah’s growing tourism infrastructure of world-class luxury hotels, beach resort and business tourism facilities in the emirate, said HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Director General, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority.

Corniche

The main objective of the system is to enhance the Emirates’ hotel services and have the latest technology. The Sharjah Tourism will also introduce new methods of gathering information from Hotel Guests.

The emirate attracted one million guests during the first six months of this year, up 14 per cent over the same period in 2013.

Al Qasba

The hotel occupancy rate was approx 74 per cent during the first half of this year while the average occupancy during the same period last year was at 70 per cent. Guests stayed for 1,87,416 nights during the first half of this year – of those 110,621 nights were at hotels and 711,206 at hotel apartments. While 1,753,866 room nights were occupied during the same period last year.

In the first half this year, Sharjah welcomed 369,485 visitors from GCC countries, which currently accounts for 34 per cent of the total hotel guests. Meanwhile visitors from European nations represented 37 percent of the total hotel guests. Visitors from Asia contributed 13% towards Sharjah Tourism market, while visitors from other Arab nations constituted 12 %. The number of international visitors from America, Africa and Asia Pacific contributed 1 per cent each.

Sharjah is aggressively boosting its presence in the UAE hospitality market, with a portfolio of 106 hotels and hotel apartments at present and could see 30 hotels in the next three years, adding 4000 rooms to the existing 10000 rooms.

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