March 11, 2012--With an occupancy level of more than 86 per cent, Dubai ranked top in the world for hotel occupancy and average revenue in January the emirate's tourism regulatory body said.

DUBAI -- With an occupancy level of more than 86 per cent, Dubai ranked top in the world for hotel occupancy and average revenue in January as the hospitality industry in the emirate continued its strong growth in footfall of tourists, the emirate's tourism regulatory body said.

This distinction has placed the emirate above Hong Kong, Sydney, London, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Madrid, Berlin, Beijing and Rome. For the same period, Dubai stood at seventh position in 2010 and 2009 and fifth in 2008. The number of Dubai hotel rooms increased to 74,613 in 2012 from 56,599 in 2008. The stellar performance of Dubai's tourism industry was released in an STR Global report at the ITB-2012 in Berlin.

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) said Dubai hotel establishments' 86.2 per cent occupancy level in January has placed it on top of the list of 15 top performance destinations, up from 75.4 per cent occupancy levels they posted last year.

As for the average room rate, Dubai stood second after Paris on the list of destinations covered in the report with $269.9, up from the fourth position it enjoyed in 2011 and 2010 with $224 and $218 respectively. Dubai was the top performer in the world in 2009 and 2008 in this category with rates of $235 and $300, respectively.

In terms of the RevPAR (Revenue per available room) category, Dubai was placed first with $232.7, up from the fifth position it enjoyed last year with $169. It was in the sixth position in 2010 with $154, third position in 2009 with $163 and first in 2008 with $237.

Meanwhile, the DTCM's 528 square metre Dubai Stand at the world's biggest travel industry exhibition continues to be a beehive of activity with government officials, diplomats, ministers and travel industry representatives holding discussions with the DTCM and other officials.

UAE ambassador to Germany Mohammed Ahmed Al Mahmoud, Bahrain's Ambassador to Germany Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmed Abdullah and Fujairah Tourism and Antiquities Department Chairman Ahmed Al Shamsi visited the Dubai Stand.

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