Local hotel operator Jumeirah is expects to operate more hotels in Dubai as the city aims to attract 20 million visitors a year by the Expo 2020.

“There is still huge potential for Jumeirah in Dubai,” says Gerald Lawless, president and CEO of Jumeirah Group. “With Expo, and the targets set by[Dubai ruler] Sheikh Mohammed [bin Rashid al-Maktoum] and [Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing] DTCM, looking to attract 20 million visitors by 2020, [it] will nearly double the 11 million visitors today, so clearly Dubai will need more hotels and Jumeirah will support that.”

The next addition to Jumeirah’s Dubai portfolio of hotels will by the fourth phase of the Madinat Jumeirah, which contractors recently submitted bids for. “We are developing the last phase of the Madinat Jumeriah, it is in the piling phase and due to open in the first quarter of 2016.”

Jumeirah will not rely on building properties for its future hotels. It expects to operate properties owned by other Dubai Holding companies as well as other companies. “We are part of Dubai Holding, and working with our sister companies like Tecom we see lots of opportunities in the future,” says Lawless. “We are also looking at opportunities with third parties because our business model is asset light. For example,we operate the Creekside hotel for Dubai Duty Free and the Zabeel Zaray for Wasl, and we will look at more of those opportunities in the future.”

Jumeirah is also looking at opportunities outside Dubai. “Our strategy is multi-faceted, but we are concentrating on the Middle East, Africa and Asia,” says Lawless.

The operator’s future developments are:

• Jumeirah Gamsha Bay Resort, Egypt
• Jumeirah Saraya Aqaba, Jordan
• Jumeirah Dubai Tower Doha, Qatar
• Jumeirah Clearwater Bay Resort, Sanya, China
• Jumeirah Guangzhou, China
• Jumeirah Hangzhou, China
• Jumeirah Macau, China
• Jumeirah Thousand Islands Lake Resort, Qiandaohu, China
• Jumeirah Mumbai, India
• Jumeirah Bali, Indonesia
• Jumeirah Bangkok, Thailand
• Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel, Baku
• Jumeirah Marrakech Golf & Polo Resort, Morocco