(MENAFN) The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing said that due to austerity measures in UK, in the year’s first quarter, the number of British tourists checking into the emirate’s hotels dropped 2 percent reaching 184,203 compared with 187,948 tourists in 2010’s same period, reported The National.

The department added that although the drop in the number of British visitors was little, yet it was significant since more tourists from UK than anywhere else visited Dubai, however, the emirate’s market witnessed a 14 percent increase in the number of hotel guests from several nationalities, especially China and the GCC.

It also said that in the first quarter, 2.38 million guests stayed in Dubai’s hotels, up from 2.09 million during 2010’s same quarter, furthermore, hotels recorded growing occupancy levels since many GCC travelers were diverted to Dubai after abandoning plans to holiday in places like Egypt that were affected by political upheaval.

It is worth noting that the number of Chinese tourists coming to Dubai went up 18 percent to 54,802 in the first quarter from 46,401 in 2010. Hotel revenues surged more than 16 percent during the period to USD1.18 billion from USD1.02 billion.