The UAE’s hospitality sector has seen remarkable growth during the first quarter of 2024 with a surge in the total number of hotel guests, occupancy rates, and revenues per available room (RevPAR). The latest UAE Hospitality Market Review Q1 2024 report from CBRE reveals that Abu Dhabi witnessed a remarkable surge in the total number of hotel guests with an increase of 22 percent annually to 1.30 million visitors.
Hospitality sector grows
The Q1 data reveals the strength of the UAE hospitality sector. In addition to Abu Dhabi’s surge in hotel guests, Dubai experienced robust growth with a total of 5.18 million international visitors in Q1. This marks a 10.9 percent annual increase and a 9.1 percent increase compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019).
During the same period, the UAE’s hospitality sector saw a marginal 0.9 percent increase in average occupancy rates. Meanwhile, the country’s average daily rate (ADR) saw a 5.6 percent increase, which led to a 6.8 percent rise in RevPAR.
“The UAE’s key performance indicators continued to showcase resilient performance in the first quarter of the year, largely supported by the elevated visitation levels,” stated Taimur Khan, head of research at CBRE.
Read: Qatar sees tourism boom with 4 million visitors in 2023, 2 million in early 2024
Average daily rates surge
By the end of Q1, the UAE’s average daily rate reached 24.9 percent above the 2019 levels. CBRE attributes this growth to higher ADRs in Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah.
- Sharjah’s ADR rose 27.9 percent
- Dubai’s ADR rose 24 percent
- Abu Dhabi’s ADR rose 18 percent
- Fujairah’s ADR rose 11.1 percent
- Ras Al Khaimah’s ADR rose 1.9 percent
As a result, the RevPARs of these cities outperform their 2019 pre-pandemic levels by 34.3 percent, 22.3 percent, 19.7 percent, 40.6 percent, and 3.0 percent, respectively. In terms of citywide occupancy, the majority of locations have exceeded their 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
Looking forward, CBRE expects the UAE’s hospitality sector to continue its strong performance in 2024 as visitation levels will likely rise ahead of key upcoming local and regional events. “Over the remainder of the year, we expect that visitation will see a marked increase owing to several events, which are expected to continue to drive occupancy and rates to record levels,” added Khan.
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