.Two cities, two very different moods and one unmistakable message for global hospitality.
If December is the hotel industry’s annual report card, Dubai and Paris just walked away with top marks and a quiet smirk.
Fresh preliminary figures from CoStar Group show both cities closing out 2025 with December performances that were not merely strong, but historically significant. This was not the usual festive bump. This was demanded with muscle.
Dubai, in particular, finished the year in full flight.
Average occupancy across the month reached 84.3 per cent, up 3.4 per cent year-on-year, making it the emirate’s strongest December since 2006. Rates followed suit. Average daily rate climbed to AED 1,042.11, an 11.1 per cent increase, while revenue per available room jumped 15 per cent to AED 878.19.
Those figures alone would make most hoteliers happy. But Dubai did not stop there.
On New Year’s Eve, the city’s hotel market did something it had never done before. Occupancy surged to 94.1 per cent, ADR rocketed to AED 2,286.60, and RevPAR hit AED 2,151.40, the first time either metric had ever broken the AED 2,000 barrier.
In hospitality terms, that is not a good night. That is a line in the sand.
More telling still was the consistency. From 23 December, Dubai recorded nine consecutive nights with occupancy above 80 per cent and an ADR of AED 1,000. This was not a one-night firework show. It was sustained, deliberate, and ruthlessly well executed, the product of events, international leisure travel, and a city that has become unnervingly good at monetising momentum.
Paris, meanwhile, delivered a very different but no less impressive December story.
Driven by Christmas travel and a booming New Year’s Eve, the French capital posted its highest December performance on record. Occupancy averaged 76.7 per cent, up 6.6 per cent, while ADR edged up to EUR 371.87. RevPAR rose 7.8 per cent to EUR 285.13.
Once again, New Year’s Eve proved decisive. Hotels peaked at 93.3 per cent occupancy, with ADR at EUR 586.11 and RevPAR at EUR 547.00, the strongest levels recorded since the Paris Summer Olympic Games in July–August 2024.
For Paris, the milestone was as symbolic as it was financial. It was the first time on record that December occupancy exceeded 90 per cent, a quiet but powerful signal that the city’s tourism engine remains remarkably resilient, even as costs rise and travellers grow more selective.
Taken together, Dubai and Paris offer a timely reminder to a cautious global market: demand has not disappeared, it has simply become more discerning.
When cities get the fundamentals right, access, events, confidence, and timing, travellers still turn up. And when they do, they pay.
December 2025 did not just close the books on the year. It underlined who, right now, truly understands the business of hospitality.
