Hotel boom in UAE led by luxury...

Abu Dhabi sees strongest occupancy growth due to business travel demand

Dubai's hospitality sector is booming, with 4,255 hotel rooms opening in the UAE city in 2024 and a further 4,620 coming this year.

The emirate will open an additional 11,300 rooms by 2027, predicts Cavendish Maxwell in its latest Dubai Hospitality Sector 2024 Market Performance Report.

The report reveals that Dubai had 724 hotels with 151,245 keys at the end of December 2024, and that will rise to 162,600 rooms across 769 hotels.

The luxury end of the market continues to dominate, accounting for 70% of new supply. Already in 2025, Dubai has seen the opening of ultra-luxury Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab which welcomed its first guests on 14 March, adding 386 rooms and suites.

Occupancy levels in Dubai rose to 78% in 2024 while Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) rose by 1.3% driven by higher occupancy.

“Dubai’s world-leading hospitality and tourism sectors set more records and reached new milestones in 2024, with 18.72 million overnight visitors, adding a string of prestigious new tourism-industry awards to its name and 4,255 new hotel rooms coming to the market,” said Gergely Balint, Associate Partner, Commercial Valuation and Hospitality expert at Cavendish Maxwell.

In 2024, tourism contributed AED236 billion to the UAE’s economy, representing 12% of the nation’s GDP

Elsewhere in the UAE, the strongest occupancy growth was at Abu Dhabi city hotels (up 10.5%), due to increased demand from business travel and events.

There was a slight drop in occupancy in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), where new openings such as the Anantara Mina Al Arab Resort and the Sofitel Al Hamra Beach Resort brought extra capacity, but RAK also saw a record number of 1.28 million visitors, up 5%.

A recent report said RAK will double hotel capacity by 2027, with 7,537 rooms being added to the existing 7,144. More than 70% of that pipeline is within the five-star category, positioning RAK squarely at the luxury market.

For more information, visit cavendishmaxwell.com/insights

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