Visitor increase supports Dubai hotels

* username: rupertbu

The economy may be contracting, developers may not be being paid and rents and freehold prices may be in freefall but, roughly halfway through a critical season, tourism in Dubai is holding up reasonably well.

According to data from Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, total new guest arrivals visiting the emirate in the first nine months of last year rose 3 per cent compared to the same period last year, to 5.6m. The number of visitors from the UK and Ireland has fallen but that is being offset by an increase in local tourism.

According to Deloitte & Touche, the consultants, who receive data from the operators of more than 24,000 rooms in Dubai, occupancy last year fell 10 per cent on the previous year – but was still 69 per cent.