Jumeirah Group, the Dubai hotel giant, said it is optimistic about a recovery in its home tourism market by the end of 2009, following a first quarter revenue drop of 20 per cent.   Executive Chairman of the Jumeirah Group, Gerald Lawless, said their profits are down compared to last year and he described the coming months as challenging.   He said their message to visitors is “yes you can now visit us, we have the availability and we are more affordable than we were.” 

Because Dubai receives nearly 20 per cent of its gross domestic product from the tourism sector, they are more affected by the effect of the global economic slowdown.  Consultant STR Global said for Dubai, revenue per available (RevPar) room in March declined by 41% while the number of visitors decreased only 15.6% during the period, suggesting hotels have cut prices.