STATISTICS released by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing show that more than six million people stayed in Dubai’s hotels and hotel apartments in 2005. The emirate’s hotels recorded revenue of $2.2 billion.
The UK provided the biggest number of tourists, while Europe as a whole accounted for nearly a third of all visitors. More than 600,000 Saudis also visited Dubai last year, an increase of 33 per cent over 2004. Many UAE nationals are still staying in Dubai hotels, with more than 300,000 in both 2004 and 2005.
The report did not track tourists staying in other emirates or those that holidayed with friends and acquaintances.
The number of available rooms in the emirate went up to 28,610 rooms compared to 26,155 rooms in 2004. The number of operating hotels stood at 290 in 2005 compared to 276 in 2004. The emirate is expected to have about 50,000 rooms for an estimated 15 million visitors by 2010.
Room occupancy rates averaged 84.57 per cent in 2005, as compared to 81.01 per cent the previous year and 72.36 per cent in 2003.