Dubai’s hospitality sector experienced a 9.2 percent YoY growth in 2024, hosting 18.72 million visitors, marking a record increase, reported Emirates NBD.
Factors contributing to this growth include the resumption of direct Emirates flights to Nigeria and a new interline agreement between Emirates and West African carrier, Air Peace. Western Europe was the largest source market, contributing 14.8 percent to the annual figure, while South Asia expanded by 1.6 percent.
Dubai now leads most global cities in terms of available hotel and hotel apartment rooms, with close to 154,016 rooms.
The city offers a wide range of options across price spectrum, with 64 percent of rooms concentrated in the four-star (28 percent of total available rooms) and five-star (35 percent), 19 percent in the one to three-start categories, and 17 percent in hotel apartment units.
An additional 3,000 rooms are expected to be added by the end of 2025, with the majority concentrated in the five-star and four-star category followed by serviced apartments.
Dubai also leads most other regional markets in terms of average daily rates (ADR), with an average of $154 in 2024.
The only cities with higher ADRs are Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, which have seen a surge in business travel and MICE-related tourism.
Regional tourism has further supported Dubai’s growth, with the travel and tourism sector in the Middle East growing by more than 25 percent in 2023 to reach almost $460 billion.
The hospitality sector supported over 7.75m employment, with international visitor spending growing by 50 percent YoY to reach $179.8 billion and domestic visitor spending growing by 16.5 percent to reach over $205 billion.
This momentum continues into 2024, with an estimated $507 billion contribution to regional economies and an additional 550,000 jobs likely added across the sector.
