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Al Mazaya Report: Sophisticated technologies robust enablers for property, tourism sectors to survive challenges

Global e-tourism sales amount to $483 billion

in 2015 & $523 in 2016

There will be no abatement in the development of technologies and tools addressing various economic sectors. The search for new technologies is constantly going on at all levels and will enhance the performance of these sectors and ensure their attractiveness and sustained competitiveness. Therefore, there must be plans for the development and modernisation of economic sectors, both public and private, with a view to developing services, producing goods, and strengthening the infrastructure of different sectors.

According to the weekly real estate report issued by Al Mazaya Holding, the tourism and hotel sector in the region is the most in need of state-of-the-art technologies, specially that most of the other economic platforms benefit from it due to the volume of investments it enjoys globally, in addition to the need of the sector to diversify services and competition.

The Al Mazaya report sees many positive aspects in this direction. All sectors rely on modern technologies to stimulate demand and boost economic growth. The real estate sector in general and tourism in particular are working to boost occupancy rates, making adjustments to projects being implemented to accommodate new technologies, enhance competition and stay in the market for longer periods.

On the other hand, the widespread use of these techniques may have a negative impact on the size and number of jobs available. Modern communication techniques, for example, have replaced jobs undertaken by real estate agents to a large extent as a result of the application of smartphones and websites specialised in the sale, purchase and lease of real estate units.

However, it can be concluded in this respect that many markets in the region still maintain the profession of real estate agents for several considerations, mainly the need for expertise, knowledge and confidence as well as the ability to market real estate products through direct humanitarian methods. At the same time, most of the real estate companies are developing their communications and marketing tools to reach the widest possible range of customers within a shorter time frame and lower cost.

The tourism sector has reached a stage of complete dependence on modern technology in communication, marketing and promotion. Thus, it can be said that the tourism sector is experiencing a state of technology integration in order to increase operating and occupancy rates. It is no exaggeration to say that electronic technologies used within the tourism sector are operating effectively with a promising future, especially if we look at their contributions on the ground in terms of product promotion and booking services.

These technologies have become a key player in the marketing of many investment opportunities and are in line with the changing patterns and impressions of users. These technologies have become a major information reference and are currently the most important marketing and promotional tools.

In terms of tourism, websites and social networks have become key information and promotional sources to identify tourist destinations in the world, through which tourists are directed to specific destinations promoted through these channels. Therefore, these technologies are used as a lifeline for the tourism and hotel sector during periods of recession and recovery. According to industry data, there was a very large increase in the volume of e-tourism sales in the world to a staggering $ 483 billion at the end of 2015 and $ 523 billion at the end of 2016.

The Al Mazaya report said that the failure to keep pace with such rapid developments will negatively affect the performance of the tourism and hotel sector across the region, adding that many markets need to invest more in available technologies to prevent the decline of their classification and the level of competitiveness and stay in the market for as long as possible. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing suitable tools that enable the provision of integrated maps for tourist sites and investment maps for major cities.

The report stressed that the state of integration between technology and the real estate sector requires new strategies that are compatible with the current changes and are in line with the tourism boom taking place in the region. After having been mere tourism source markets, the GCC region has succeeded in becoming a major competitor and tourist attraction for travellers coming from around the world. And herein lies the role of the real estate sector in taking advantage of the tourist boom and opportunities available to enhance the performance of the sector.

The report predicts the tourism sector in Dubai to continue to be at the forefront of the region, which will continue to positively impact the real estate sector. The real estate and tourism success story of Dubai has been largely consistent with the architecture and design of distinctive and modern buildings – advantages that keep the emirate’s competitive edge. These continued tourist successes spur the introduction of more technologies on the real estate sector as a whole and the tourism sector in particular.

According to industry data, the hotel sector is one of the top targeted investment sectors in the region. Dubai currently has 192 hotels with 42,000 hotel rooms. Saudi Arabia aims to provide 42,000 hotel rooms this year. The tourism sector in Oman seeks to increase the number of tourists by more than 30% during the current year, which requires the provision of more hotel facilities and the introduction of all possible kinds of related technologies to achieve the set goals and retain growth in the future.

The report pointed out that the UAE tourism sector is more qualified than ever before, as it continues its progress to improve its contribution to GDP in the coming years, which reached AED170 billion by the end of 2017. The number of tourists exceeded the 20 million tourists mark, which corroborates the success of technologies used in promoting the country.

On the other hand, the tourism sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia lies at the heart of the plans being implemented by the Saudi government, to provide unlimited numbers of real estate and investment opportunities over the coming period. This comes at a time when the Kingdom aims to raise investment values in the tourism sector from SAR 8 billion  to SAR 46 billion by 2020. The sector derives its attractiveness from its ability to generate revenues of SAR 190 billion during the previous year.

Within this context, the tourism sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain is making great strides to contribute 37% to the non-oil GDP.