Arab Spring Unrest Helps Lift Dubai Hotel Business DUBAI - Not long ago, pundits and analysts were writing off the Dubai hospitality industry, along with much else in the debt-stricken emirate. But it has recovered fast. The Arab Spring, the wave of political unrest that has swept much of the surrounding region, has been a big help by sending tourists who might have gone to places like Cairo or Damascus to safer-seeming Dubai, which has rebounded as a business destination. As a result, occupancy levels and room rates at Dubai hotels, which plummeted in 2008 and 2009 during the financial crisis, are at record highs, topping global rankings. Even more surprising, hardly a week goes by without an announcement of plans for new hotels. Analysts expect 30,000 more rooms to be added over the next five years. These plans are a boon for the construction industry, which was badly hit by the local real estate bust. The bottom line, analysts say, is that Dubai is proving to be a surprisingly resilient market, at least for tourism. "During the past 10 years, when other regional destinations have struggled with political and economic instability, Dubai has emerged as a stable, organic market for hoteliers," said Wael el Behi, executive assistant manager at the Ramada Downtown in Dubai. His establishment, which is near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, is just about sold out every night. It recorded occupancy levels of 93 percent in the first quarter of 2012, an increase from 73 percent during the period last year. Hotel operators are poised to capitalize on the hot market, with plans on track for a number of new hotel openings and announcements of more projects expected this year. Hilton Hotels and Resorts says it will open two new hotels, a Conrad and a DoubleTree hotel and residence, in the emirate in 2012. The Fairmont will also open its new property on the Palm Jumeirah, an artificial peninsula shaped like a palm tree, in September. Starwood operates 15 hotels in Dubai under five different brands, representing the largest concentration of Starwood hotels anywhere in the world except New York. It also has plans for new hotels in the emirate, according to Guide de Wilde, Starwood's regional director for the Middle East. The hotels are chasing a lucrative and booming market. Dubai hotels ranked number one on the global hotel occupancy list at 86.2 percent in January 2012, up from ninth place a year earlier, according to a report last month by the hotel industry research firm STR Global, higher than in Tokyo, Paris or New York. Occupancy rates have risen despite an expansion in the total number of rooms to 74,613 now from 56,599 in 2008, before the global economic crunch, according to STR. High rates mean big money. Data from the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing show that revenue from Dubai's whole tourism industry rose 20 percent last year, to 16 billion dirhams, or $4.35 billion. Daily revenue per room, meanwhile, has risen to 805 dirhams, or $219, in February, from 763 dirhams a year earlier. Dubai is not profiting just from the Arab Spring. It is also benefiting from a surge of new arrivals from the Far East. Data from Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate and hotel consulting firm, show that 214,000 Chinese tourists came to Dubai in 2011, up from 25,000 a decade earlier. "In the past, travelers from Europe and the G.C.C. were the main source markets for Dubai, but now we are witnessing a rise in Chinese and Indian travelers," Mr. de Wilde of Starwood said, referring to the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council. We expect inbound travel from China and India will continue to grow exponentially this year, and are catering to that. The situation represents a huge change from the gloomy days of the financial crisis in late 2008, when demand for luxury hotels rooms fell drastically while supply continued to rise, pushing prices down. According to the consulting firm PRTM, revenue per room fell to $60 in 2009 from $150 in 2007.