How Dubai’s hotel occupancy spiked as tourists flocked to escape lockdowns

Hotels were 71 percent full in December – the highest figure since February – according to research firm STR, citing preliminary data.

Dubai’s hotel occupancy, for years one of the highest in the world, slumped to 23 percent in part of 2020 from about 80 percent as the full impact of coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns took hold.

Dubai attracts about 16 million tourists annually and its hotels were initially among the worst-hit by travel restrictions introduced to keep the pandemic in check.

Later in 2020, the government established a travel corridor with the UK, which brought scores of holidaymakers to the Gulf city in November and December.

Tourism, key to Dubai’s economy, peaks during the northern hemisphere’s winter, with travellers enticed by Dubai’s beaches and sunny weather.

However, the UK on Monday removed the country from its travel corridor with people returning to the UK from the UAE having to self-isolate for 10 days.

New cases in the UAE averaged 1,208 in November and spiked to a record 2,998 on January 9.

Average daily rates in Dubai’s hotels were AED608.92 ($165.78) in December, about 9.1 percent below levels from a year earlier, STR said. Revenue per available room, a measure of profitability, was AED432.34, down 18.2 percent.

The UK’s decision on the quarantine rules is seen as another blow to the UAE’s tourism industry which saw incoming flights soar 112 percent in November when the UAE was first added to the travel corridor.

New Tier 4 restrictions which limited outbound travel from the UK over the Christmas period was already seen as a major blow to the aviation industry.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StratAero aviation consulting, told Arabian Business last week: “For UAE airlines, the UK–UAE route was far and away the most popular, profitable and high-frequency route. Now that will have to change until March 2021 at least, if not longer,” said Ahmad.

“With such heavy restrictions imposed by this new lockdown in England, any would-be travel seeker is effectively banned from flying and so, the demand for flights out of the UK will plummet,” he said.

Arabian Business on Monday reported how the Dubai-London Heathrow travel corridor was the busiest international air route in the world during the first week of January.

According to aviation analytics firm OAG, a total of 190,365 seats were scheduled in the first week of 2021 on the route, putting it ahead of Cairo to Jeddah (154,337) and Orlando to San Juan (151.916).