Dubai Total global hotel inventory increased by more than 2,315,000 daily rooms since 2000 to 13,443,014 rooms as of February, according to the latest report by STR Global, the global hotel data provider.

The hotel inventory compound annual growth (CAGR) went up by 1.6 per cent over the 12-year period, according to STR Global's Census database.

It was led by the Asia-Pacific region which grew 2.7 per cent through February, followed by the Middle East and Africa's 2.5 per cent CAGR.

The Middle East and Africa growth took place as the region's luxury and upper upscale segment grew 3.9 per cent, says the study, to 190,514 daily rooms, followed by the upscale and upper mid-scale (up 2.4 per cent) growing to 253,958 daily available rooms.

North America, meanwhile, remained the leading market for branded hotel rooms (66 per cent of the region's inventory, representing 41.4 per cent of the global room stock with 5,565,866 daily rooms available,

It is closely followed by Europe (29.7 per cent) with 3,998,603 daily rooms and Asia (21.6 per cent) with 2,897,823 daily rooms.

"Across all regions, branded room inventory has increased compared to those from independent hotels in the 12-year period to February," said Elizabeth Randall, Managing Director at STR Global, adding that the Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa regions led the inventory growth.

According to STR Global, the Middle East reported a 6.8 per cent decrease in occupancy in 2011 to 57.1 per cent besides a 5.3 per cent increase in the average daily rate to $162.81 (Dh597.79) and a 1.8 per cent decrease in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to $92.99.

Dubai market

Meanwhile, the Dubai hotel market has been undergoing rapid expansion. According to the TRI Hospitality database, as recently shared with Gulf News, 12 new properties (3/4/5 star hotels) with roughly 3,600 keys (rooms) opened last year.

And the consulting firm estimates 18 new properties are scheduled to open in 2012 with around 6,600 keys.

As the firm's Managing Director Peter Goddard pointed out in a recent Gulf News report: "The boom days are back for Dubai hotels, a majority of which are running at occupancy levels comparable to 2008, and this is likely to continue."

Dubai there are 386 hotels comprising 53,999 rooms at present, according to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing's (DTCM) latest available data, in addition to 190 hotel apartments comprising 21,400 flats.

The Central and South America markets had the lowest number of branded rooms compared to the other regions through February, according to STR's analysis, as the region saw its room supply increase by 1.7 per cent CAGR to 352,330 daily rooms in February.

In Europe, room inventory increased only marginally, by 1.1 per cent.