Dubai a rare bright spot in hotel occupancies

Dubai's hotel occupancy and room rates picked up significantly in July as many other parts of the region experienced declines amid instability, data from Ernst & Young released yesterday showed.The emirate's hotel occupancy levels increased to 80.8 per cent in July compared with 70.3 per cent for the same month last year. Average rates rose 6.2 per cent to US$158 (Dh580.34) compared with $149 in July last year. Dubai's beach hotels led the recovery with a 7.7 per cent increase in rates to $194, while occupancy levels rose to 83 per cent compared with 75 per cent last year. "Dubai remains one of the most steadily growing markets in the region," said Yousef Wahbah, the head of transaction real estate at Ernst & Young for the Middle East and North Africa."Egypt, especially Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh, registered the strongest declines in terms of occupancy and rooms yield." Occupancy levels in Cairo fell to 39.1 per cent in July compared with 72.3 per cent last year. Lebanon's hotels have also experienced sharp falls in occupancy levels this summer. From / The National