Implementing energy saving recommendations could save Dubai's five-star hotels millions.

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22 Oct 2007

The Hotel Show 2008, the Middle East's leading supplies exhibition to the region’s hospitality sector, will focus on sustainability issues during next year’s, ‘Seven Star Conference’. With the carbon footprint of travel and tourism globally now firmly under the media spotlight, regional industry professionals are now actively pursuing greener alternatives. Not only to help the environment but also to improve operating margins.

Farnek Avireal’s Hotel Energy Benchmarking project which recently received an Emirates Energy Award, found that five-star city hotels in Dubai use up to 225 per cent more energy than their counterparts in Europe. With five-star city hotels in Dubai paying an average of US$2 million annually for their utilities, potential savings could be significant, which would be good for both the environment and their profitability.

Maggie Moore, Exhibition Director, The Hotel Show 2008, stated, “According to the Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing, there are currently 40 five-star hotels in Dubai, with many more due online within the next five years. Therefore conservative energy savings of say 10 per cent per hotel through such measures as optimising air conditioning systems could send more than US$8 million straight to their combined bottom lines, an incentive that should turn any hotelier green.”

Delivering the keynote, Marcus Oberlin, General Manager, Avireal Middle East, will outline the recommendations of the survey and reiterate the environmental and business case for sustainability. “Given the current growth estimates, Dubai’s demand for energy is likely to double by 2015 if left unchecked, which is simply unsustainable. Hotel energy use is disproportionately high compared with many other buildings and needs to be addressed,” said Oberlin.

Other key sustainability issues that will be addressed by the Seven Star Conference include: design for the 21st Century – the sustainable building; the use of technology in the hotels of the future and the role of technology in avoiding waste. Elsewhere on the programme, other hard-hitting subjects of topical concern will be examined such as the retention, motivation and development of staff and branding and marketing of food and beverage outlets. Running in parallel with the exhibition, the conference has been extended to a third day following overwhelming demand from industry professionals.

During the 2007, the show attracted 10,086 dedicated trade visitors, representing an increase of over 29 per cent year-on-year. Visitor profiles also included regional owner-operators, key decision makers from international five-star hotel chains, architects and interior designers, who clearly expressed their ‘environmental conscience’.

The industry showcase, organised by dmg world media dubai Ltd one of the region’s leading exhibition companies, has evolved in just seven years from a small regional event into one of the most important dates on the international industry calendar. In excess of 16,500 square metres of exhibition space has been reserved for 2008, to accommodate surging demand from both international and regional exhibitors. The Hotel Show which takes place at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre (DIEC) on 8-10 June 2008 is already heading towards another complete sell-out.