Dubai, UAE – Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism announced the latest performance results for the tourism sector during the first ten months of this year. It confirmed a new record for international visitor numbers, reaching 15.7 million between January and October 2025. This compares to 14.96 million visitors during the same period in 2024, representing a growth of 5%.
Data from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism revealed that October alone welcomed approximately 1.75 million tourists, averaging over 56,400 visitors per day.
Major tourist source areas
Data showed that Western Europe led the way in visitor origin markets with 21% (over 3.26 million visitors). The Gulf region followed with 16% (approximately 2.5 million visitors).
South Asia came in third with 15% (2.33 million visitors). Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Eastern Europe followed closely behind with roughly the same percentage (over 2.27 million visitors).
The Middle East and North Africa region recorded 1.74 million visitors (11%), while North and Southeast Asia accounted for approximately 9% (1.47 million visitors).
Visitors from the Americas reached 1.1 million (7%), compared to 698,000 visitors from Africa (4%). Australasia accounted for 2%, equivalent to 329,000 visitors.
Hotel sector performance
The Department of Commerce and Industry clarified that the number of hotel rooms in Dubai reached 152,800 by the end of October 2025, spread across 820 hotel establishments. This compares to 152,500 rooms across 827 establishments during the same period in 2024. The average hotel occupancy rate across all establishments reached 79.4% between January and October 2025, compared to 77% during the corresponding period of the previous year.
According to the report, five-star hotels accounted for 36% of the total market, with 55,000 rooms across 172 establishments. Four-star hotels followed with 28%, totaling 43,200 rooms.
Hotels ranging from three to one star comprised approximately 19% (29,100 rooms). Hotel apartments accounted for 25,500 rooms, representing 17% of the market.
Hotel nights and returns
The average length of stay remained at 3.6 nights. Meanwhile, the number of nights booked increased to 36.7 million, compared to 35.1 million in the same period of 2024. This represents a growth of 4%.
The average daily room rate reached AED 531 by the end of October 2025. This is compared to AED 502 last year, representing a growth of 6%. Meanwhile, the average revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose to AED 421 compared to AED 386 (growth of 9%).
