Occupancy rates across Dubai hotels increased by four percentage points in the first five months of 2012 over the same period last year, reaching 83 per cent, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) gained 13 per cent to touch Dh778.04 in the same period.

“After a period of two years, average rates showed an increase of about seven per cent during the first five months of 2012 to $ 932.18 as compared to the same period in 2011. The beach hotels have witnessed an improvement exceeding 10 per cent in average daily rate (ADR) levels in January to May 2012,” Jones Lang LaSalle said in its second quarter report on Dubai real estate market.

In a recent report, STR Global said occupancy in Dubai hotels rose 8.2 per cent in three months to reach a very impressive 86.6 per cent while the ADR increased 8.7 per cent to Dh964.86 for the quarter, compared with the same period last year

In contrast, HotStats survey of full-service hotels in six Mena cities by TRI Hospitality Consulting found that Dubai’s hotels had seen a gradual decline in occupancy this year – from a high of 87.7 per cent in January to 78.8 per cent in May. The average room rate decline by more than Dh400, or over 31 per cent, to Dh910.64 in May, making the emirate an affordable destination.

According to JLL, the second quarter saw the opening of one major internationally branded hotel – Melia in Bur Dubai, marking the entrance of a new operator in the Dubai hospitality market.

The first half witnessed an addition of about 850 branded hotel rooms in the city. The bulk of the major openings are, however, scheduled in the second half of the year, mostly leaning towards the end of the year after Ramadan.

Approximately 4,500 additional guest rooms are expected to be completed in 2012 with major projects including JW Marriott Marquis (Business Bay), Al Khor Rayhaan (Al Ghurair City), Fairmont The Palm and Conrad Sheikh Zayed Road.

Currently, Dubai has 54,300 rooms and will see 11,000 new units being added between 2012 and 2014. In the first quarter, Dubai saw arrival of 2.6 million tourists.

“The positive upswing in tourism volumes in Dubai has raised confidence levels and following a slowdown witnessed in the last couple of years, there has been an increase in the number of announced projects in the city including the Four Seasons Dubai, three hotels (St. Regis, Westin and W) at the Metropolitan site and some midscale properties in the Bur Dubai / Deira area,” JLL said.

Besides, several major established hotels are undertaking renovation programmes to refresh their products in order to match the new supply and cater to increased demand such as Pullman Deira City Centre Hotel, the report said.