Dubai overtakes Las Vegas in hotel count: Dubai now boasts more hotel rooms than Las Vegas, cementing its position as one of the world’s largest hospitality markets, Bloomberg reports, citing data from CoStar Group. The emirate doubled its available hotel beds over the past decade to 151.8k as it looked to pivot from a transit hub to a destination in and of itself, and now only trails London’s 152.7k rooms, excluding Chinese cities that rely heavily on domestic tourism.

The next wave: Dubai has 56 hotels under construction — adding more than 15k rooms — including the Ciel Tower, due to open in November as the world’s tallest hotel. Much of the new supply is concentrated in the luxury and upper-upscale segments, and the hotel push comes alongside similar efforts in the culinary, sports, and entertainment sectors, as the Emirates looks to draw more numbers in.

Tourism momentum: The boom is fueled by record international arrivals through DXB and steady GCC visitor demand. Hotel occupancy averaged 83% between January and May 2025, up from 81% a year earlier, even as Las Vegas reported monthly declines since February as the US’ tariff agenda weighed on inbound visitors.

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