The summer months in Dubai have typically been a time when many travel, move house or depart for good.
The events season takes a break, and those who remain enjoy a couple of relatively more peaceful months.
But as Dubai’s population continues to rise, is the city starting to shake off the traditional summer slowdown and become a place of year-round activity?
The National spoke to experts from hospitality to real estate to try to gauge if things were changing.
“There is no such thing as downtime any more,” said V Nandakumar, director of marketing and communications at Lulu Group, which operates shops across the UAE.
“Traditionally, July and August were always seen as non-peak … because of the weather conditions and the fact people travel out of the UAE,” he said. “But that is not the case now.”
'People don't want to leave'
Hitesh Vachhani, team lead of commercial at Santa Fe Relocation in Dubai, said June to August used to be peak time for their moving business but that is no longer the case.
“Fifty per cent to 60 per cent of our volume used to happen in the summer months,” said Mr Vachhani. “Now it is only 20 per cent because it is spread out during the year.
“There are a few schools now who are even accommodating mid-year admissions if they have space. And this was never the case before.”
Authorities have made major efforts over the past few years to get more people to visit and stay in Dubai through initiatives such as liberalised visa rules, investment in education, and new residential developments.
Growing population
Dubai’s population is increasing – at 3.98 million on Monday – up from 3.77 million on the same day a year ago – and this may also partially explain why the city feels slightly busier in the summer.
Mr Vachhani said there was a time when people moved with their families, stayed for an assignment period and then went home but this was also no longer valid, meaning Dubai is a less transient place.
“People don't want to leave,” he said. “Because going back is the last resort.”
And even of those who move to a new assignment − often to other regional countries − their families often stay here. “That has never happened in the past. People don't want to leave in the summers.”
Hotel occupancy on the rise
Statistics released to The National by the CoStar Group, parent company of hotel analytics provider STR, showed that yearly occupancy data to June was 81.4 per cent – up 4.5 per cent on 2024.
And monthly occupancy data to July 26 was 70.3 per cent – a rise of 3.7 per cent on last year.
“We can’t really identify if it’s staycations or tourists at this point without knowing how tourism arrivals are trending at the same time,” said Kostas Nikolaidis, senior account manager for the Middle East and Africa at STR. “But one thing is for sure, hotels are busier as occupancies are growing.”
Mr Nikolaidis said summer still had significant room for growth as “overcoming seasonality is a monumental challenge for all destinations”.
“However, Dubai is taking steady steps in the right direction. Even now in the heat of summer.”
Hospitality groups also said they had witnessed a rise in business over the summer. Paul Stevens, chief operating officer, Middle East, Africa and Turkey, for the premium, midscale and economy division at Accor, said it was clear that Dubai’s traditional summer slowdown was “softening” with marketwide demand “up two per cent over summer 2024”.
“While July had a brief dip due to regional events earlier in the month, overall, this summer is shaping up stronger than last year,” he said.
Mr Stevens said the strength of the euro against the dirham made Dubai about 10 per cent more affordable for many European travellers compared with last year and an increase in inbound flight capacity – up around two per cent to four per cent from 2024 – was also important.
“Across our Accor portfolio in Dubai, we’ve seen a noticeable sharp rise in both international arrivals and staycations, despite the Middle East tensions in June and early July,” he said, with the city’s investment in experiences that were indoors and climate-controlled bolstering this.
“For us, that’s a shift worth watching,” he said. “Dubai isn’t just a seasonal hotspot any more, it’s a 12-month destination and summer is increasingly part of that success story.”
Even at Dubai Gold Souq, there were signs that long term trends pointed to the city getting busier.
“If we compare from the past two to three years, then this summer is quiet,” said Arjun Dhanak, director of Kanz Jewels, who said gold reaching record highs meant some customers were waiting to buy. “But if we compare with 10 years ago, it is busier.”
There are also signs of growth in the property market. According to the Dubai Land Department, property transactions were up 26 per cent in the first half of the year as more tenants convert to buyers.
“Contrary to the typical seasonal slowdown often associated with the summer months, this year the Dubai real estate market has continued to perform robustly,” said Zacky Sajjad, director of business development and client relations at the Cavendish Maxwell property consultancy.
“Our data shows that residential transaction volumes in June and July 2025 increased by 18.6 per cent year-on-year, with the total value of transactions rising by 19.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Mr Sajjad pointed to Dubai International Airport, which reported a record first half of the year. Hotel occupancy levels are growing every year and Dubai’s population increases are bringing further demand to the residential and hospitality sectors, he said.
“From a practical standpoint across the industry and asset classes, it is clear there has been no significant summer slowdown, so far,” he said.
“On the contrary, the market appears to be maintaining strong transactional and operational activity, reinforcing Dubai’s position as a resilient and attractive global real estate hub, even during the traditionally quieter summer season.”
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Need to know
Unlike other mobile wallets and payment apps, a unique feature of eWallet is that there is no need to have a bank account, credit or debit card to do digital payments.
Customers only need a valid Emirates ID and a working UAE mobile number to register for eWallet account.
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
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On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
Grand slam winners since July 2003
Who has won major titles since Wimbledon 2003 when Roger Federer won his first grand slam
Roger Federer 19 (8 Wimbledon, 5 Australian Open, 5 US Open, 1 French Open)
Rafael Nadal 16 (10 French Open, 3 US Open, 2 Wimbledon, 1 Australian Open)
Novak Djokovic 12 (6 Australian Open, 3 Wimbledon, 2 US Open, 1 French Open)
Andy Murray 3 (2 Wimbledon, 1 US Open)
Stan Wawrinka 3 (1 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 1 US Open)
Andy Roddick 1 (1 US Open)
Gaston Gaudio 1 (1 French Open)
Marat Safin 1 (1 Australian Open)
Juan Martin del Potro 1 (1 US Open)
Marin Cilic 1 (1 US Open)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
