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Hotel room. Image used for illustrative purpose. Getty Images
Dubai hotels are filling up ahead of major events taking place in the emirate, with advance bookings already 6% and 12% ahead of last year for key Dubai Airshow and COP28 dates.
As the city prepares to host the airshow and the UN climate summit later this month, Forward STAR (STR) data, from Nasdaq-listed company CoStar showed found that as of 30th October, hotels have reached 58.3% occupancy for November 15, the third day of Dubai Airshow, compared with 53.1% for the same date last year.
Occupancy for December 2, the third day of the COP28 summit, which is also UAE National Day, has reached 44.2%, compared to 29.4% for the same date as of October 30 last year.
Kostas Nikolaidis, STR’s account executive for Middle East & Africa, said more than 40% of rooms are also already booked for New Year’s Eve in Dubai.
“Both events are expected to push hotel performance to new highs for the year with some hotels selling out closer to the dates,” Nikolaidis said.
Occupancy levels for Dubai hotels reached 75.5% in the first eight months of 2023, up 7% year-on-year, according to a Cavendish Maxwell report.
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
