Dubai's hotel sector saw guest numbers rise by nine percent and revenues soar by 24 percent in the first quarter of 2012, according to data released by the emirate's Tourism and Commerce Marketing.


It also reported a 22 percent jump in guest nights and a 12 percent rise in the average length of stay.


The January-March results follow last year's performance when revenues touching an all-time high of AED16m.


In January 2012, Dubai ranked number one on the STR Global's hotel occupancy list with 86.2 percent, up from ninth place a year earlier, higher than in Tokyo, Paris or New York, DTCM said in a statement.


Khalid A bin Sulayem, DTCM director general, said: "The remarkable results of our hospitality industry is the outcome of the substantial expansion of the tourist infrastructure, an increasingly impressive portfolio of tourism products, wider destination awareness, aggressive promotional and marketing drive and the growing air-connectivity to and from Dubai."

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He added: "The overriding feature of this strikingly impressive performance has been our focus on quality standards and going beyond the expectations of the guests."


During Q1, Dubai hotels and hotel apartments played host to nearly 2.6 million guests, while guest nights hit 10.35 million and revenues topped AED5.38bn ($1.46bn).


The number of hotels increased by one percent in Q1 to reach 577 with the total number of rooms and flats swelling four percent to 75,171.


Hotel room occupancy rates stood at 87%, an increase of eight percent.


Saudi Arabia topped the source market list with 272,631 guests, followed by India, the UK and the US.