A LoyaltyLobby reader forwarded me an email that he had received from Hilton in Dubai regarding a new 20 AED daily (around $5.5) fee that would be added to his bill and I decided to find out what this fee was for.
In essence, this fee is used to partially find the Expo 2020 projects that is expected to cost around $9B and rise the revenue that the Dubai government gets from the tourism.
You can read more about this fee on TheNational’s website here.
Here’s the email received from Hilton:
We hope this note finds you well, many thanks for choosing us for your upcoming visit to Dubai. We just wanted to update you that the Dubai Government have introduced a new “TOURISM DIRHAM” fee, this will be charged at AED 20.00 per bedroom per night and will be added to your total bill, this Fee is applicable as off 31st March 2014.
Our apologies that this was not confirmed to you at the time of your booking as this “TOURISM DIRHAM” was only introduced recently and applies to all bookings which have not fully prepaid prior to 23rd February 2014, if you have any concerns or need any further details please do not hesitate to contact us.
Conclusion
Shouldn’t the visitors going to the Expo in 2020 pay for the projects instead of everyone else visiting Dubai between now and then?
I just hate all the fees that the local municipalities and governments are adding to hotel accommodations because these are easy target to generate more revenue without angering your local electorate, although obviously there is no democracy in UAE.
