ABU DHABI, 8th February, 2026 (WAM) — The Hospitality Advisory Council held its first meeting of 2026, chaired by Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, and attended by representatives from the public and private sectors, including executives and heads of major national and international hotel establishments in the UAE.
The Council reviewed a range of new tourism initiatives and their pivotal role in driving the growth and sustainability of the UAE’s hotel sector in 2026. Discussions also covered performance developments in the sector regionally and globally, along with future supply and demand projections for the upcoming period.
Bin Touq affirmed that the UAE’s hospitality sector continues to perform exceptionally, thanks to the vision and directives of the wise leadership. The sector is one of the key pillars enhancing the competitiveness of the national tourism ecosystem, he noted.
He emphasised that the hotel occupancy rate in the UAE reached 79.5 per cent during the period from January to November 2025, along with an increase in the average length of stay to 3.42 nights. Coinciding with the continued expansion of the sector’s capacity, the number of hotels reached 1,260, while the total number of hotel rooms increased to around 216,900. These figures reflect the robustness of the sector and its pivotal role in supporting national tourism growth.
During the meeting, Al Marri stated, “The outstanding performance of the hospitality and hotel sector reflects the integrated nature of the UAE’s tourism ecosystem and highlights the active role of partnerships between public entities and the private sector. The next phase requires continued efforts under a precise data analytics methodology and balanced planning between supply and demand to ensure sustainable growth and reinforce the long-term competitiveness of this vital sector.”
He highlighted that the Council’s priorities for this year focus on enhancing the efficiency of revenue management strategies and flexible pricing. These efforts aim to maximise hotel and tourism revenues and ensure the sustainability of strong sector performance.
These priorities also include the diversification of tourism source markets to reduce reliance on specific markets, strengthening the sector’s flexibility in the face of global fluctuations, and the development of long-stay accommodation offerings. Additionally, it focuses on attracting high-spending visitor segments to increase average length of stay and enhance economic returns per visitor, increasing hotel revenues in the upcoming phase. More
