The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) predicts Dubai will be a tourist favorite next year, in its new ‘Travel Trends Report 2010’.  ABTA represents more than 5,000 travel agencies and about 900 tour operations in the UK.  The report said “If you are after a bargain, Dubai will be a place to go in 2010. The state-backed Dubai World debt announcement at the end of November has triggered a price war in hotel room rates to stimulate demand and a currency which is losing value.”  The ABTA report said Dubai deserved to be a hotspot in 2010 for its opening of the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest tower on January 4th 2010.

Figures from Hotels.com show that online searches for Dubai hotels increased 570 percent following Dubai World’s announcement that it would restructure its debt.  The website also predicted that hotel prices will drop as much as 17 per cent in early 2010, compared to the same period last year.