Dubai recorded another year of growth in its tourism and hospitality markets, as total hotel revenues rose 9.8 per cent in 2014, to AED23.98bn ($6.53bn).

Room revenues increased by 12 per cent year-on-year to AED15.27bn, while food and beverage and other revenues increased by 6.1 per cent year-on-year, to AED8.72bn.

The supply of rooms in Dubai increased by 9.2 per cent to 92,333. However the rise in hotel guest numbers slowed from 10.6 per cent in 2013 to 5.6 per cent in 2014, reaching 11.6 million people. This will make Dubai’s 2020 target of 20 million visitors harder to reach.

“At the start of 2014, the emirate’s portfolio consisted of 84,534 rooms across 611 properties; by the end of the year this had increased to 92,333 rooms across 657 properties,” said Helal Saeed al-Marri, director general of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). “The figures indicate that our hospitality industry is in a healthy state and most importantly, that the growth is sustainable, which is crucial when it comes to meeting our Vision for 2020 targets.”

The slower growth in visitor numbers is due to lower oil prices and a fall in Russian visitors following the collapse of the rouble. This was partly compensated by a 14.4 per cent growth in South Asian guests to 1.8 million people and a 12.9 per cent growth in visitors from East Asia to over 800,000, especially the target market of China. Saudi Arabia, India and the UK remained the biggest markets.

A slight increase in average length of stay from 3.78 days in 2013 to 3.84 days in 2104 kept room rates high, averaging AED657 in 2014, up 4.5 per cent from AED629 in 2013.

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