Hospitality Management Holding (HMH) shares its key takeaways as we look back at the resounding success of Expo 2020, rising above the challenges of a global pandemic to bring the world together in celebration of humanity and our planet.
Dubai reached the incredible milestone of 20 million visits by Expo 2020 on 19th March, with 192 Country Pavilions opening their doors over the last six months. A total of 1938 government leaders, including presidents, prime ministers, heads of state and key officials, have honoured the Expo site, to open their country’s pavilions, speak at official events or celebrate their nation’s Expo National Day.
‘UAE Hospitality Industry was stimulated by Expo 2020 just when we needed it most, and we are confident that this momentum is set to continue, with strong occupancy and revenue rates throughout our hotels,’ commented Haytham Abdelaziz, Director of Operations at HMH.
Expo 2020 Dubai has championed three sub-themes to demonstrate how the UAE is “connecting minds, creating the future” – sustainability, mobility, and opportunity. The focus has been on partnering to drive growth, increasing physical and virtual connectivity to share services and goods, and using resources without impacting our habitat and planet.
‘The world got a chance to experience the best that UAE Hospitality has to offer through Expo 2020, raising our profile as an exciting, accessible, and socially responsible travel destination,’ continued Abdelaziz.
‘It has also provided the opportunity to build trade agreements with countries and companies from around the world, creating and strengthening inbound tourism and MICE partnerships. Dubai welcomed 979.7K overnight visitors in the month of January 2022 alone, with the highest number of international guests from Saudi Arabia at 105K.
According to the DTCM Accommodation Supply and Demand – January 2022 report, room supply increased by 10,797 additional rooms from Jan 2021 to Jan 2022. Despite this, REVPAR in January 2022 still showed an increase from AED 293 to AED 460, showing resilience and strong buoyancy in the marketplace.
There is no doubt that Expo 2020 has allowed us to recover more quickly from the impact of the pandemic than many countries competing in the same hospitality space. Looking to the future, we are also delighted to have signed an agreement with Terminus Group at Expo 2020, aimed at developing Autonomous Robotic Solutions throughout the hotels we manage. As an industry, we always need to look for new ways to approach hospitality, and this is the right time to explore how Service Robotics can further enhance interaction with our guests.’
As the nation reflects on the impact and success of the “world’s greatest show”, its travel and hospitality sector is in good shape, with industry experts optimistic about the sector’s continued recovery.
