WORLD NEWS: Tourists abandon Asia, fearing consequences of war in the Middle East
In the historic Al-Fahidi district, one of the main tourist areas of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 13, 2026. FATIMA SHBAIR/AP.
Hotels almost empty, prices plummeting. In Dubai, as the conflict in the Middle East continues, the high tourist season has been shattered. The week of March 23, studios on the marina, in residences with swimming pools, rent for 50 euros per night; luxury hotels like the Hyatt Andaz are selling rooms for 100 euros, two to three times less than usual.
The hotel occupancy rate is only 23%, compared to 90% in February, according to the analytics company Lighthouse. The average price of an Airbnb fell by 45% in April, compared to the same month in 2025, according to data from AirDNA.
The economic impact is brutal in this city-state, which has 150,000 hotel rooms (roughly as many as Ile-de-France), and is still strongly discouraged for travelers by the Quai d’Orsay, due to alerts concerning potential fallout from missiles and debris in urban areas.
Hundreds of employees, from the Philippines, India, and Indonesia, were fired due to lack of customers. The territory, which welcomed 19 million international tourists in 2025 (up 40% over ten years), had made security a key asset to attract visitors. Dubai, thanks to its Emirates company, had also become a major air hub connecting Europe to Asia.
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Source: This article was originally published in another language by International : Toute l’actualité sur Le Monde.fr. and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.