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28 March 2024

It isn’t easy to book a room in a good Dubai hotel

Image for illustrative purpose only.

Published
By Vicky Kapur

Tried booking a room in a decent Dubai hotel lately? 

Chances are that you will be told that they are overbooked, or that the only rooms available are the ones that'll cost you an arm and a leg. Wonder why? The number of tourists flooding the UAE in general, and Dubai in particular, isn't funny. 

The average rate for a one-night stay in a Dubai hotel is Dh1,080, ($294), an increase of 11.5 per cent in March 2013 (compared to the same month last year), latest stats issued by STR Global show.

The increase in room rates in the emirate have nicely gone hand-in-hand with an increase in occupancy rates, with occupancy for all UAE hotels (not just in Dubai) rising 3.2 per cent year-on-year to reach a high 82.8 per cent in March.

No wonder it isn’t easy to book a room in a decent Dubai hotel, and no wonder, indeed, why hoteliers are falling over themselves to launch new properties in the emirate.

The RevPAR (revenue per available room), or the money that a hotel earns for every room that is available (even those that aren’t rented out) went up by 14.2 per cent in March, and is around the Dh950-mark ($258).

In comparison, RevPAR for hotels in the Americas stood at a mere $72.33 (Dh266), in Europe it was $80.60 (Dh296), and for hotels in Asia-Pacific, it was $90.60 (Dh333).

Dubai hotels are, clearly, earning about three times that hotels in other regions are making. Even in the entire Middle East and Africa region, RevPAR for all hotels combined comes at $120.52 (Dh443), which is still about half of what hotels in Dubai are reportedly earning.

According to data compiled by STR Global, the Middle East and Africa region reported a 3.8-per cent increase in occupancy to 67.1 per cent, a 5.4-per cent increase in average daily rate to $179.57 (Dh660) and a 9.5-per cent increase in revenue per available room to $120.52 (Dh443). That’s in the month of March 2013, compared with March 2012.

During first quarter of 2013, the region’s occupancy rose 5.9 per cent to 64.3 per cent, its ADR was up 3.1 per cent to $179.10 (Dh658) and its RevPAR increased 9.2 per cent to $115.20 (Dh423).

“The region reported positive performance growth during the first quarter of the year,” said Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global. “Southern Africa was the only exception, reporting negative RevPAR growth during the first quarter. This is mostly due to a reduction in ADR of nearly 5 per cent [in US dollar terms]. Northern Africa, though showing double-digit occupancy growth, is still reporting actual occupancy levels of below 50 per cent,” she said.

Highlights among the region’s key markets for March 2013 include (year-over-year comparisons, all currency in US dollars):

• Muscat, Oman, rose 18 per cent in occupancy to 83.1 per cent, reporting the largest increase in that metric. Doha, Qatar, followed with a 13.2-per cent increase to 70.2 per cent.

• Amman, Jordan (-17.7 per cent to 64.7 per cent), and Beirut, Lebanon (-17.2 per cent to 52.6 per cent), reported the largest occupancy decreases.

• Amman achieved the largest ADR increase, rising 12.7 per cent to $166.44, followed by Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with an 11.5-per cent increase to $294.

• Beirut fell 21.4 per cent in ADR to $151.76, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.

• Four markets experienced double-digit RevPAR increases: Muscat (+27.8 per cent to $211.14); Dubai (+14.2 per cent to $257.63); Doha (+12.4 per cent to $158.23); and Lagos, Nigeria (+10 per cent to $204.19).

• Beirut fell 34.9 per cent in RevPAR to $79.89, posting the largest decrease in that metric.

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