Dubai Government Names Its Most Eco-Friendly Hotels, 70 in Total

Dubai’s tourism authority has issued 70 ‘Dubai Sustainable Tourism Stamps’ to hotels across the emirate. With more than 800 hotels in Dubai today, that means that just under 10% of operating hotels were recognized for adhering to Dubai’s sustainability requirements.

There are 19 such requirements, ranging from food waste prevention measures, staff training, local community outreach and sustainable operating practices. Dubai Tourism rolled these requirements out in 2019, and gave hotels a one-year deadline to adhere. This deadline was later moved to July 2021 during the pandemic.

The 70 hotels given a “sustainability stamp” are broken down into bronze, silver or gold tiers.

Gold hotels include:

• Sofitel Dubai The Palm
• Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk
• Raffles Dubai
• Grosvenor House, A Luxury Collection Hotel
• Rove City Walk

The rest of the 70 names range from budget properties all the way up to five-star resorts. One notable property to be “stamped” was Atlantis The Palm – one of Dubai’s most famous hotels and one that has long promoted its sustainability measures. The Palm Island mega-resort was given silver status rather than gold.

Atlantis Dubai (which includes the neighboring Royal resort) continuously shares its sustainability measures. In July 2023, the company stated it had pumped green investments totaling $500,000 into the resorts, resulting in a significant change to help reduce waste and emissions and facilitate a more responsible operation. Atlantis also has a dedicated sustainability arm of the business, called its Atlas Project.

You can read the full list of hotels here.

Middle East Sustainability

At the end of last year, Dubai hosted COP28 at its former World Expo site. The emirate hosting the conference is one of many ways the Gulf is trying to change its image as the petro-capital of the world. Saudi Arabia, for example, has an entire “Vision” to ween its economy away from oil by the end of the decade and turn tourism into the second-biggest economic engine.

Banner projects under this Vision include Saudi’s own World Expo, happening in 2030, likely a FIFA World Cup in 2034, and a myriad of giga-projects such as Maldivian-style resort hotspots, and man-made ski villages.