Dubai: Hotels in the Middle East recorded an occupancy of 70.2 per cent in May, a 3.8 per cent increase over the same period in 2013, which saw occupancy reach 67.7 per cent, according to a report by STR Global.
Average daily rate (ADR) for the month stood at $182.76, while revenue per available room (RevPAR — a benchmark for performance) touched $128.38.
The region’s hotel occupancy year-to-date, meanwhile, reached 74.1 per cent, up 3.6 per cent, while ADR touched $213.84 and RevPAR grew to 158.49. “Bahrain is currently showing the highest growth in terms of occupancy, though the country is coming from a low base in 2013”, said Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global, in a statement.
Hotels in Manama, Bahrain saw occupancy grow by 29.7 per cent to 56.9 per cent in May over the corresponding period a year ago.
UAE hotels posted an occupancy of 75.3 per cent, up 0.5 per cent, while ADR grew 1.6 per cent to Dh686.08 and RevPAR rose 2.1 per cent to Dh516.87.
Elsewhere in the region, hotels in Saudi Arabia saw occupancy rise 3.6 per cent to 66.3 per cent, while ADR was marginally down to SR636.76 and RevPAR up 2.3 per cent to SR422.22.
Hotel occupancy in Doha, Qatar grew by 13 per cent to 75.8 per cent.
Meanwhile in Egypt, hotel occupancy fell 10.7 per cent to 48 per cent. ADR slightly declined to EGP469.59, while RevPAR was down 11.8 per cent to EGP225.49.
The region has the fastest growing hotel pipeline in the world, with 99,199 rooms under contract as of May, according to Winkle.
“The UAE and Saudi Arabia have emerged with two of the most robust pipelines in the Middle East, as these two countries combined make up 70.0 percent of the rooms in the region’s pipeline,” Winkle said.
