Dubai’s hotels await quick return to 80-90% occupancy as trade shows, exhibitions open

Dubai’s hotels await quick return to 80-90% occupancy as trade shows, exhibitions open

Dubai: After the 90 per cent occupancy highs in December, hotels in Dubai are hoping for a quick return to those levels as trade shows and high-profile events make a return. That would be enough to push hotel room rates higher after the dip recorded in the first two weeks of January. “Our four and three-star properties in Deira and Bur Dubai had seen occupancy go down to 60 per cent,” said Praveen Shetty, Chairman and Managing Director of Fortune Group. “But with forward bookings, occupancy is up to 80 per cent after January 21.” This he attributes to the upcoming Arab Health and Gulf Food exhibitions. For five-star properties in Dubai, there will be the lift provided by the World Government Summit in the coming days, and which could hold up all the way until Easter. The other big positive would be the steady return of Chinese tourists to the UAE now that Covid-related restrictions are a thing of the past for China. But it will be on Dubai’s events and shows calendar that hotel operators will have their eyes on. Multiple sources confirm that pre-event bookings are running at their highest levels since 2019, and all that chatter