The UAE hotels are likely to continue to perform well in the coming months, benefitting from upcoming events such as Formula 1, NBA Games and UFC 280 - as well as the World Cup in Qatar, which is anticipated to have spillover effects for this market, according to JLL, a leading real estate investment and advisory firm.

 

Dubai had gained 1,000 keys in Q3, pushing up the city’s total hotel stock to 146,000 rooms. It is anticipated that the last quarter of the year will see the addition of 6,000 keys, stated JLL in its UAE Real Estate Market Report for Q3. 

 

No new hotel room stock was added in the third quarter in Abu Dhabi, but an additional 600 keys are expected to come on stream in the capital by year end, it said. 

 

Although summer is the low season for tourism in the UAE, JLL pointed out that the latest figures, nevertheless, demonstrate the sector’s rapid recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

As per Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism data, the emirate received around 2.95 million overnight visitors between June and August 2022 – a significant jump compared to the 1.17 million recorded for the same period last year.

 

Abu Dhabi too witnessed a 24% increase in overnight visitors to 910,000, according to DCT Abu Dhabi. 

 

While luxury and beachfront properties have been performing well, the pick-up in tourism is now also benefitting the mid- to low- segments by capturing demand from source markets that have traditionally supported these categories of hotels, said JLL in its report.

 

The real estate expert pointed out that Dubai’s occupancy levels had reached 70% between January and August, a notable jump compared to the same period in 2021 (58%).

 

The average daily rate (ADR) reached $181 and revenue per available room (RevPAR) surged to $127. In Abu Dhabi, occupancy levels reached 68%, compared to 63% last year, while ADR and RevPAR rose to $105 and $71, respectively.-TradeArabia News Service