International visitors gave Dubai hotels a lift in 2025

• Emirate hosted almost 20m visitors
• Large proportion from Western Europe
• Average occupancy up to 80%

Dubai hotels reported higher occupancy and room rates as the emirate received almost 20 million international visitors last year, according to official data.

International overnight visitors were up 5 percent from 18.7 million in 2024, supported by global marketing campaigns and a packed calendar of major events, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported, quoting figures released by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

More than 2 million people stayed in December, the first time this has been achieved in a single month.

Western Europe was the largest source, with 4.1 million visitors. The GCC and Mena regions accounted for 3 million and 2.2 million arrivals, respectively.

By the end of December hotel inventory stood at 154,264 rooms across 827 establishments. The emirate claims to be well ahead of global peer cities such as Bangkok, New York, Paris and Singapore and almost on a par with London in total room inventory. 

• Dubai is full – new hotels are having to move south
• Dubai urged to combat overtourism while it still can
• Demand for luxury keeps Dubai hotel openings upscale

The average daily rate rose to AED579 ($158), up 8 percent year on year, while revenue per available room increased by 11 percent annually to AED467.

Average hotel occupancy climbed to 80.7 percent in 2025 from 78.2 percent in 2024.

Occupied room nights increased by 4 percent year on year to 45 million, with average length of stay at 3.7 nights, the report said. 

In November Dubai approved its 2026-28 budget with AED302.7 billion ($82.41 billion) in expenditure and AED329.2 billion in revenues. Nearly half of the total projected expenditure will be allocated to infrastructure investments.