Hotels in Dubai reported the highest profit levels in the region in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year, according to TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room (GOPPAR) for 2013 increased 10.3 percent to $206, average Room Rates (ARR) for the year were up by 6.5 percent to $324 and RevPAR was up by 7.6 percent for the same period.

In the first nine months of 2013, Dubai government figures revealed that Dubai hotels had welcomed 7.9 million visitors, year-on-year increase of almost 10 percent and due, in part to longer average stays, visitors spent $4.2 billion an increase of 17 percent compared with the same period in 2012.

According to Dubai International Airport, annual passenger traffic also rose to 66.4 million in 2013 an increase of 15.2 percent, with 28 new routes in 2013, it now serves a total of 239 destinations.

“The Dubai success story continues with increases right across the board,” said Mark Walsh, portfolio director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.

“It is difficult to imagine that growth slowing anytime soon, especially with Standard Chartered Bank estimating that at least $9 billion will be invested in Dubai’s infrastructure ahead of the Expo 2020,” he said.

“Indeed the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing has been established to promote brand Dubai around the world and armed with a considerable budget. Hotels will pay a new ‘Tourism Tax’ of up to AED 20 per room per night, to fund the endeavors of the DCTCM, as Dubai focuses on its 20 million visitor target by 2020,” added Walsh.

Meanwhile, the annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) road show arrived in Dubai on Thursday at the Dubai World Trade Center.

Dubai is the penultimate stop of the six Middle East destinations being visited by the ATM team during its week-long roadshow which took in Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman with Riyadh to come next week.

In a separate statement, Mohamed Ali Al-Noman, chairman, the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Authority (SCTDA) has hailed the positive impact of the Sharjah Light Festival on hotel occupancy rates in Sharjah which touched as high as 90 percent since the Festival was launched at a dozen locations across the Emirate including the East Coast.