The hospitality sector in Dubai, UAE, maintained occupancy levels of 76.3 per cent in September, the same as the year before, thanks to the ever-increasing supply and demand for rooms in the city, said a report.

The city's hotels registered a tremendous increase in supply (over 7.4 per cent) and demand (over 7.8 per cent) for the month, stated industry expert STR Global in its preliminary data for September.

STR Global provides clients - including hotel operators, developers, financiers, analysts and suppliers to the hotel industry -access to hotel research with regular and custom reports covering Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and South America.

Dubai's hotels, however, indicated negative revenue-per-available-room (RevPAR) performance during the month, it added.

The average daily rate fell 4 per cent to Dh671.87 ($182.8), while there was a 3.7-per cent decline in RevPAR which hit Dh512.83 ($140), said the STR Global report.

The occupancy rates rose 0.3-per cent to 76.3 per cent last month, it added.

“Supply and demand for Dubai increases, while both high, kept pace with one another; therefore, the city was able to maintain the same occupancy levels as the year before,” remarked Elizabeth Winkle, the managing director of STR Global.

"As the temperature in the region begins to cool and business returns to the city, we start to see demand come back post-summer," added Winkle.-TradeArabia News Service