Tourism a blessing for the Dubai buy to let investor For the past few years Dubai has proven itself to be the darling of the property investment world both within the Middle East and beyond, it continues to offer high rental yields and a very good capital growth rate of near 10% which we see today. Yet Dubai's development has not just been restricted to the real estate sector, the tourism sector has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 3 years alone. With tourists staying in Dubai hotels numbering 5.4 million in 2004, whilst in 2006 tourist staying in Dubai hotels grew significantly to 6.5 million people. With the number of hotel rooms and flats numbering 40,862 in 2006 and the government of Dubai aiming to reach a target of 8-10 million tourists by 2010 shows that there is at present a significant gap between growing demand and availability of supply for tourist accommodation which may be increasingly felt as major future attractions such as Dubai land and Dubai Sports City open for business. This level of growth in the tourism industry in Dubai has led to a very high occupancy rate for hotel rooms and apartments for example the occupancy rate stood at 85% in January 2007 alone. This has presented Dubai and UAE property investors as a whole with a splendid potential to capitalise on this growing market, the traditional method of property investment in such as buy to lets in Dubai may offer investors around 8% rental yield per annum. Yet short term letting tenants are charged hotel rates per night which depending on location and quality of properties, landlords can stand to make 10-15% rental yield per annum at today's hotel rates. This is a situation which is not solely confined to Dubai, it is also very much applicable in other Emirates such as Ras Al Khaimah especially in established resorts such as Al Hamra Village , where hotel accommodation does not suffice to meet demand. A common question asked by many investors is what is the best way take advantage of accommodation supply gap in Dubai? There are two main routes which buyers can take with regards to this: The 1st method is to purchase an apartment or villas and utilise a high quality property management company which will take care of an investors property. Normally the management charge will be 20-25% of an apartments rent per annum. It may also be necessary to buy a furniture package from property management company which may vary in cost between £2-£5K. The second option available to investors is to purchase a hotel apartment in one of the key future tourist locations such as Sports City in Dubai, such as The Cube. These developments are often managed by 5* hotel companies which will in many some occasions give investors rental guarantees and 30 days complimentary stay within the hotel. These are developments in a majority of cases will be fully managed, maintained and furnished with no additional cost to yourself. Those property investors looking for long term investments who do not intend to move into their properties should consider the hotel apartments as their ideal investment solution. It is a type of property which does not require any significant effort on behalf of investors in terms of finding a capable property management firm to maximise property rental turnover, which saves both time and money. Short term holiday letting is the ideal form of buy to let for the savvy Dubai investor, with rumours of rental stabilisation in the traditional buy to let market, holiday home letting presents one the best potentials for sustained high rental yields. Is Abu Dhabi the next Dubai Dubai has always been at the forefront of the UAE property scene, having been the first Emirate to offer non-UAE nationals the right to buy properties, allowing it to capitalise on a brand new source of foreign investment. Yet within the last 2 years we have begun to see neighbouring Emirates take notice of their own real estate potential, such as Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, and Abu Dhabi the capital of the UAE and its most wealthy Emirate. With a booming economy and investor friendly economic policies the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is by far the most promising of the emerging Emirates, posing a very attractive prospect for both industry and tourism, for example: Increasing government expenditurePresently the government of Abu Dhabi is spending over $6 billion into expanding and improving facilities at Abu Dhabi international airport, by 2015 the Abu Dhabi expects to see tourist numbers reach the 3 million mark as a result of significant investment into the leisure and tourism sector, through planned upcoming attractions such as Ferrari World.  Rising populationThe effect of this level of investment within the economic and tourist infrastructure is expected to produce significant numbers of new employment opportunities within the Emirate, potentially doubling the population within the next ten years.  This rising population which between 2001-2003 grew by 16% coupled with a relatively slow response to increasing demand for properties and accommodation by the Emirate which has only in the recently allowed non UAE nationals to purchase properties in Abu Dhabi on a 99 year lease basis, has resulted in Abu Dhabi seeing a significant rise in rental rates within the Emirate, rising by up to 30% in some cases within the past year alone. Resulting in the local government responding by capping rental rises by 7%. Hindsight Unlike Dubai when its' real estate market began hotting up, Abu Dhabi has the benefit of hindsight in its favour, having seen some of the negative issues affecting Dubais real estate market, such as Man Power shortages that can be blamed for delays in completion of some projects. Alongside the effects of large scale constructions on roads and transport infrastructure. These lessons from Dubai are presently being heeded by Abu Dhabi who are conducting major improvements to roads and utilities infrastructure stretching into the next decade in anticipation of a significant growth in population and new increasing numbers of residential and commercial construction projects. This policy is a very positive indicator for any property investor.  Overall the outlook for Abu Dhabi is looking very bright with a present shortage in supply of properties coupled with stunning headline catching mega projects such as the Shams on Al Reem Island alongside affordable family orientated developments such as Hydra Village, where a two bed townhouse could have been bought on resale from as little as AED569.41 per square foot draws significant parallels to the early stages of the Dubai Property Boom. With Prices still low and demand strong early Dubai property investors and those who missed the boat in the beginning of the Dubai property boom are being handed a second opportunity to make significant profits by investing into the Abu Dhabi real estate market, with that in mind, Abu Dhabi is definitely like the next Dubai for property investors.