The recent numbers are starting to look good for Dubai. The rot may have stopped and traffic is making a come back.

Tourist arrivals were up by 9% in the first half of the year, with more than 4.18m visitors, while hotel revenue rose by 6% to $1.87bn. Occupancy rates were also solid, at 71%, this despite the fact that there had been a 7% increase in the number of hotel rooms on offer.

There was more tourists and they stayed longer than in 2009 with an 18% rise in the number of nights rooms were occupied. Guests stayed for 12.46m nights in total, up from 10.5m in the first half of last year.

These figures suggest that Dubai is well on its way to passing 2009's lackluster 6.1m hotel guests, a 1.3% fall on the 2008 total. Tourism accounts for around 19% of the emirate's GDP at present. According to the EIU, overall Oil is predicted to decline from a total of 40% of GDP to 32% of GDS in UAE by the end of the decade. Tourism of course is the big strategy for success going forward.

The desert seems to have come off its lows and there is cautious optimism. Real estate values have stabilized but don't expect to make a killing in this markets.

So for now – EK is going to be a big driver of revenue so hopefully the rest of the economy can at least find a way to keep some of the way up.

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