Dubai hotels' performance holds steady in July, STR says

Hotels in Dubai recorded a steady performance across industry metrics in July, compared with pre-pandemic levels in the same month in 2019, according to hospitality data and analytics specialist STR.

Hotel occupancy rates in July reached 61 per cent, slightly below the 64.7 per cent in July 2019, STR said on Wednesday in its monthly report.

Dubai hotels' average daily rate (ADR) reached Dh434.78 ($118.4), while revenue per available room (Revpar) was Dh265.26, with both criteria falling month on month but exceeding levels in July 2019, STR said. It did not provide comparative figures.

"Aligned with historical patterns, Dubai’s hotel industry reported lower performance than the month prior while recovery levels to 2019 remained steady," STR said.

A surge in international visitor numbers to Dubai helped to fill hotels in the emirate during the first six months of the year, despite an increase in hotel room capacity, according to a separate report by the Dubai government.

The average hotel occupancy rate between January and June rose to 74 per cent, one of the world’s highest, compared with 62 per cent in the same period a year ago, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) said earlier this week.

This was slightly lower than the 76 per cent occupancy rate recorded during the same period in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.

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Hotels were busier, despite a 19 per cent increase in room capacity compared with the same period in 2019.

Dubai’s hotel inventory by the end of June 2022 comprised 140,778 rooms across 773 hotel establishments, up from 118,345 rooms across 714 establishments at the end of June 2019, the DET said.

The GCC's hospitality industry will return to pre-coronavirus levels in 2022, boosted by an increase in the number of tourist arrivals, easing visa regulations and the hosting of big events such as the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, according to Alpen Capital.

The industry's revenue is expected to grow by 74.8 per cent a year to $26.3 billion in 2022, as regional governments invest heavily in developing business, leisure and entertainment centres, it said in a report last week.