ABU DHABI, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Dubai hotels recorded 1.89 million guests in the first quarter of 2008, representing a growth of 7 percent over the same period of 2007, which is seen the highest guest increase percentage in the world, local newspaper Gulf News reported on Thursday.

    The figure was released by the United Arab Emirates' Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), the regulator of the tourism industry in the city, in its quarter report on the hotel establishments' performance.

    The number of guest nights during the first three months of this year reached 6.067 million, up 10 percent from 5.505 million in the corresponding period of 2007, according to the report.

    Hotels registered 8.2 percent increase in the number of guest nights in the first quarter, while the number of guest nights in the case of hotel apartments recorded 17 percent increase during the corresponding period, the report said.

    It also showed that the average number of operating hotel and hotel apartments stood at 475 in the first quarter of 2008, up 9 percent compared with the same period of 2007.

    The total revenues of Dubai's hotel sector hit 4.26 billion dirhams (1.16 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months, increasing by 22 percent over the previous year, the report added.