Ramadan, which impacted the final few days of the month, contributes to the drop, says STR
Occupancy and room rates fell in May as the UAE's ever-expanding supply of hotels increased by more than 5 percent, according to analysts STR.
The holy month of Ramadan, which impacted the final few days of the month, also contributed to the drop in hotels, STR said in a statement.
"Many hotel markets in the Middle East saw negative results as a result of the Ramadan calendar shift from early June 2016 to late May 2017," it added.
STR data showed that hotel occupancy in the UAE fell 7.1 percent to 72 percent in May compared to the year-earlier period.
Average daily rates (ADR) dropped by 6.1 percent while revenue per available room (RevPAR) slumped by nearly 13 percent in the same period.
STR said: "In addition to the aforementioned Ramadan calendar shift, a 5.3 percent year-over-year increase in supply weighed on performance for the month."
STR analysts noted that corporate demand appear to be stable, with occupancy for group bookings - bookings of 10 or more rooms at a time - up 10.4 percent for the month. They added that an 8.9 percent decline in transient occupancy brought down overall performance.
In the wider Middle East, occupancy fell 5.9 percent to 64.4 percent while ADR dropped by 2.5 percent and RevPAR decreased by 8.2 percent.
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