Dubai hotel room prices fall by 11.5% in July

The average daily rate of Dubai hotels and resorts dropped to Dh471.25.

Hotels in Dubai became more affordable for tourists and residents as room rates fell 11.5 per cent during July.
According to STR's preliminary July data, average daily rate of Dubai hotels and resorts dropped to Dh471.25 as supply increased 5.6 per cent, putting pressure on the hotels to offer competitive rates during the leaner summer season.
Occupancy rate also fell 3.56 per cent to 65.7 while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell 14.7 per cent to Dh309.76.
"Dubai's hotel performance continues to be affected by supply expansion. Additionally, July performance was affected by the Ramadan calendar shift, with the Eid al-Fitr holiday in late June this year versus early July last year. However, Dubai did not experience as severe a downturn as several other Middle Eastern markets during this year's Ramadan period," STR said in a press statement on Thursday.
According to the EY Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey Report released earlier this week said that Dubai's hospitality industry enjoyed the highest occupancy and revenue per available room (RevPar) in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region during the first half of this year.
Hotels in Dubai boasted 79.3 per cent occupancy in H1 while RevPar reached $209, EY said.
waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai