Sharjah, Aug 7 - The emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reported a rise in hotel occupancy rates despite the ongoing world economic crisis, WAM news agency reported Friday quoting Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA).

According to the statistics released by the SCTDA for the first half of 2009, the total number of guests in the emirate's hotels and hotel apartments was 671,662, with overall occupancy of 64 percent.

The total number of hotels and hotel apartments in Sharjah was up seven percent to 109 (41 hotels and 68 hotel apartments), compared with 102 (37 hotels and 65 hotel apartments) during the same period in 2008.

The increase in the number of hotels and hotel apartments raised the number of available rooms to 8,523, a 14 percent increase from the 7,486 rooms recorded in the corresponding period in 2008, with the number of hotel rooms increasing from 3,913 to 4,275 and the number of hotel apartment rooms increasing from 3,573 to 4,248.