Dubai: More than 5.8 million visitors stayed in Dubai’s hotels during the first six months of the year, up from around 5.5 million visitors during the same period in 2013, according to Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
The visitor numbers were the highest ever recorded for the first half of the year, the DTCM said in a statement on Sunday.
Guest numbers amounted to 5,828,449, bringing in Dh12.74 billion in revenue, up 10.9 per cent over the first half of 2013. Hotels and hotel apartments’ room and food and beverage revenues rose 15.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.
“The figures show an increase in visitors from many of our key source markets — for example we are seeing strong growth from China, Brazil, Australia and many countries in Europe. The increase comes despite the reduction in flights due to the refurbishment and upgrading of the runways at Dubai International,” stated Helal Almarri, director-general of the DTCM.
Saudi Arabia continued to be Dubai’s top source market, followed by India, the UK, the United States, Russia, China, Iran, Oman, Kuwait and Germany. The number of visitors from different source markets have shown growth, but Chinese visitors in particular have gone up by 26 per cent year-on-year.
Guest nights spent increased by 6.7 per cent for hotels and 4.1 per cent for hotel apartments. Meanwhile, the length of stay in hotels and hotel apartments grew to 3.4 days and 5.7 days, respectively.
Dubai is diversifying its tourism offerings and adding more hotels to attract a range of visitors. Since June last year, more than 7,000 rooms have been in the emirate, bringing the total number to 88,680 across 634 properties.
Demand and supply is likely to be balanced for the rest of the year, according to Christopher Hewett, senior consultant at TRI Consulting.
“We project the supply and balance will remain consistent for the remainder of the year, especially as the hotel market enters the traditional peak period after Ramadan and the summer holiday period,” he said.
He estimated that hotel occupancy in Dubai for the first seven months of the year was 79.4 per cent, which he expects to grow by the end of the year.
Amid the rise of luxury five-star hotels in Dubai, “the five star hotel market has reached a point of maturity with most international brands having representation in the city,” Hewett said.
“However, with the development of new mega-projects, including the Mall of the World, opportunities will remain for new five-star hotels,” he added.
The DTCM is positioning Dubai as a top destination for families, events and entertainment and business. Additionally, the emirate aims to become the most visited city in the world.
