Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.

Read the latest news from around the Middle East and Africa region.

Damac Properties PJSC Chairman Hussain Sajwani has admitted he was "totally wrong" a year after saying Dubai, United Arab Emirates' real estate market faced an impending crisis from oversupply, Bloomberg reports.

“I was totally wrong,” he said. “I was very surprised and shocked to see how things changed.”

He is now predicting 2022 will be at least as good as 2021 as the market has seen a steep drop in COVID-19 cases.

The AMC Royal Hotel, which the Associated Press described as "a popular Red Sea resort," reported 47 guests were hospitalized with food poisoning. The Egyptian government announced three hotel workers were detained pending an investigation.

"Public Prosecutor Hamada el-Sawy said in a statement late Sunday that the workers, including the hotel’s top chef, face accusations of endangering the guests’ lives," the news agency reports. "The workers denied the accusations, the prosecutor’s statement said."

Changes in international travel rules for country's like the United Kingdom have proven to be a boost for Turkish hotels, HNN contributor Vladislav Vorotnikov reports, with the country reporting a four-fold increase in travelers during the summer months compared to 2020.

This year, the country forecasts 25 million tourists compared to only 17 million in 2020. The bounce back is largely attributed to the return of guests from Russia, Germany and the Middle East, with gains projected to push all hotel and hospitality revenue up to $20 billion, compared to $12 billion in the previous year. In 2019, Turkey attracted 51 million foreign visitors, who brought $35 billion into the country.

HNN's Terence Baker reports that prominent Saudi hotel development and operator group Dur Hospitality is eyeing growth across its home country. Speaking with Hassan Ahdab, Dur's president of hotel operations, during the Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference, Baker noted the company plans to grow its footprint along with overall inbound tourism to Saudi Arabia.

“There are many emerging cities in Saudi Arabia, not just the capital Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca and Medina. Outside the Holy Cities, we have no fully owned brands, just franchise partnerships with international ones, which we feel perform better for us in those markets,” he said.

The Burj Al Arab in Dubai is opening its doors to non-guests for the first time, CNN reports, showing off things like "24-carat gold tiles," "duvets filled with eiderdown harvested from abandoned duck nests in Iceland," "pillow menus," "30 different types of marble," and "a ceiling made of 21,000 Swarovski crystals representing the Milky Way."

Return to the Hotel News Now home page.