Russia and the CIS take the first ten days of January off — and Dubai is the default warm escape.

Russia effectively shuts down for the first stretch of January — the official New Year break runs from 31 December into the second week of January, with Orthodox Christmas on 7 January inside it. For 2027 the Ministry of Labour calendar points to an eleven-day run through 10 January. Dubai is the CIS market's number-one warm-weather destination for it, and the arrivals wave lands on 2–3 January, right as NYE guests check out.

This is a long-stay window, not a weekend spike: week-plus bookings, beach-first, with the Palm crescent, JBR and the Marina absorbing most of it. Russian-speaking demand also concentrates in specific properties — the big Palm resorts and apartment-hotels — so those tighten while comparable rooms elsewhere stay open.

The arbitrage: rates step down hard from the NYE peak on 2 January but demand doesn't — so early January is better value than late December at the same hotels, while still being high season with perfect weather. Orthodox Christmas Eve dinners (6–7 January) at the Palm resorts book out like a second, smaller NYE.