Dubai: Hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi recorded strong occupancy rates in January, reflecting a buoyant tourism industry, according to the latest HotStats report, published by TRI Hospitality Consulting.
While occupancy fell marginally in Dubai’s hotels by 1 per cent to touch 86.3 per cent in January, it rose 5.4 per cent in Abu Dhabi to reach 74.7 per cent.
Average room rates (ARR) in Dubai hotels grew by 10.8 per cent to $402.15, while revenue per available room (RevPAR- a benchmark for performance), meanwhile, rose 9.5 per cent to $347.17.
“Hotels in Dubai successfully yielded higher average rates on the back of strong leisure demand during the month of January,” said Peter Goddard, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting, in a statement.
Occasions, such as Orthodox Christmas and New Year, during January have helped attract visitors from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to Dubai, according to Goddard.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), which was held between January and February, attracted visitors mainly from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and East Asia, he added.
Dubai International Airport attracted 6,400,706 passengers in January, up 15.1 per cent compared to the corresponding period a year ago.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi hotels’ ARR grew by six per cent to $165.07, and RevPAR rose 16 per cent to $123.37.
The rise in ARR was mainly driven by the corporate segment as a result of events that include the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, according to the report.
“January is typically a robust month of performance for hotels in Abu Dhabi and this year was no exception as continued growth was seen across all key indicators,” Goddard said.
Abu Dhabi International Airport received 1,564,266 passengers in January compared to 1,366,433 during the same time in 2013.
In Doha, hotel occupancy rates grew by 10.9 per cent to 70.5 per cent, and in Riyadh, by 3.9 per cent to 58.1 per cent. However, in other parts of the GCC, hotel occupancy rates fell. In Kuwait, it dropped by eight per cent to 51.8 per cent.
