UAE hotel occupancy levels dropped 13 percent in June year-on-year and revenue per available room (RevPar) fell by more than a quarter due to declining travel amid the global economic turmoil, hospitality research firm STR Global said.
RevPar, the key indicator of performance, declined 34 percent for Dubai hotels - higher than the national average of 27.4 percent . Abu Dhabi saw a decline of 12.2 percent.
The downturn has affected several popular holiday destinations in the region, but hotels in locations such as Beirut and Amman improved their performance during the month.
Muscat saw a drop of 31.3 percent in occupancy to 40.4 percent, the largest decrease in the Gulf, while Riyadh hotels saw a fall of 20.3 percent to 63.5 percent. Dubai's occupancy fell 14.7 percent to 64.6 percent.
Istanbul reported the largest average daily room rate decrease in the Middle East, down 24.3 percent to $211.30, followed by Dubai at 22.4 percent to $166.13.
In the first six months of 2009, Dubai's RevPar declined 36 percent to $176.50, comaprted to the year-ago period.
Before the current downturn, Dubai and Abu Dhabi hotels had enjoyed high occupancy and room rates, outperforming some of the world's top cities.
Now they are slashing rates to fill rooms as tourist arrivals from key markets in Europe decline in the recession.
