Researcher blames low visitor figures while government cites greater number of rooms

The number of empty buildings in Dubai has hit record levels. Hotels in the emirate are at their emptiest for five years, while unoccupied office space has doubled in six months.

New research from Jones Lang LaSalle has found that the number of empty hotel rooms is down to a slump in visitors and an increase in the number of rooms.

The firm found that empty office space in Dubai had doubled to 16% in the past six months.

Despite this news, a Dubai's department of tourism recently announced revenues of the emirate's hotels had hit record levels.

Revenues for 2008 were Dh15.25bn (£2.97bn), which equates to growth of 15% over the year. The government puts the low take-up rate down to more rooms being created. It said the number of hotel rooms and hotel apartments reached 49,598 last year, a 16% increase on 2007.

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