UAE records 62% hotel occupancy rate in H1 2021

The UAE’s tourism sector recorded 62 per cent occupancy rate in H1 2021, outperforming 10 other major global tourism destinations including China (54 per cent), USA (45 per cent), Mexico (38 per cent), the UK (37 per cent), and Turkey (36 per cent).

The country’s hotel and tourism establishments attracted nearly 8.3 million guests during this period, recording 15 per cent growth compared over H1 2020.

In H1 2021, guests spent nearly 35 million nights in the UAE hotels reflecting a growth of 30 per cent, while the average length of their stay grew 12.5 per cent to 4.1 nights , according to state-run news agency WAM. This was accompanied by a 31 per cent growth in revenue among hotel establishments which reached Dhs11.3bn. Domestic tourism accounted for 30 per cent of the total number of guests at these hotel establishments.

Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, and chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council, said that the latest figures are a result of concerted government efforts aimed at developing domestic tourism to attract larger numbers of domestic and foreign tourists. In January, for example, the UAE’s inaugural 45-day World’s Coolest Winter campaign to spur domestic tourism concluded with 950,000 domestic tourists across the country reportedly driving Dhs1bn of revenue into the local hospitality sector within one month.

Read: Dubai received 2.85m international overnight visitors from Jan-July 2021

He added that high vaccination rates in the country, which is at 80 per cent now, is among the highest in the world and this has contributed to raising the level of confidence in the UAE’s tourism sector.

Authorities in the country are coordinating their efforts to preparing for an upcoming internal tourism campaign. It will also see the launch of external tourism promotional campaigns with the aim of opening new markets to attract tourists to the country. In addition, the Expo 2020 Dubai with delegations from more than 192 countries is expected to further boost the country’s tourism sector.

The UAE’s domestic tourism sector contributed Dhs41.2bn to the national economy in 2019, constituting 23 per cent of the total tourism sector revenue. A new tourism strategy aims to double the domestic tourism revenue and achieve a greater balance between the domestic and international tourism by 2030.