Dubai hotel occupancy, rates down despite demand growth

Hotels in Dubai reported declines in occupancy and revenues in January despite a significant growth in demand (room nights sold), primarily due to the influx of new room inventory pressuring performance, market analysts revealed.

According to STR’s preliminary data for the month, occupancy dipped 4.9 per cent to 82.2 per cent and average daily rate (ADR) was down 11.4 per cent to Dh714.01 ($194.3), causing a 15.8 per cent drop in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to Dh586.79 ($159.7).

Demand was up 3.9 per cent in January but supply surged 9.3 per cent for the month.

STR analysts note that year-over-year declines are to be expected with significant supply growth ahead of Expo 2020. Regardless, demand (room nights sold) grew for the fourth consecutive month, and occupancy eclipsed 90 per cent for each of the first three nights of the year. - TradeArabia News Service