Dubai hotels reported strong occupancy rates as the number of Gulf visitors coming for summer breaks grew and Europeans flocked to beach properties that offered them attractive deals, a report said.

The Gulf News report quoted managers at most hotels and hotel apartments as saying they enjoyed occupancy rates of more than 80 per cent in July and expect similar bookings until August-end.

City hotels in particular saw a significant increase in guests from other Gulf countries in the last couple of months, it said.

"We are currently running 90 per cent occupancy and half of our guests are from the GCC. Before the summer, GCC guests used to be about 25 per cent of the total," Star Hospitality general manager Peter Janssen was quoted as saying.

He said most Gulf visitors staying at the group's hotel apartments were holiday visitors.

Dubai attracts a huge number of GCC families because of shopping opportunities and children's entertainment activities held during special tourism promotion events like the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS), the report said.