Dubai: Hotels in the Middle East and Africa recorded mixed performance across key indicators in November, according to a report by research firm STR Global.
Hotel occupancy rose 4.8 per cent to 67.4 per cent, while average daily rate (ADR) declined 2.4 per cent to $174.28, resulting in a 2.3 per cent increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR — an industry benchmark for performance) to $117.4.
“Focusing on the three subregions, the Middle East saw year-to-date occupancy growth; however, rate remained flat as new supply put pressure on performance”, Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global, said in a statement.
Hotels in North Africa, meanwhile, recorded double-digit occupancy growth, with a slight increase in rate, mainly driven by Egypt’s recovery. Occupancy in Egypt surged 35.8 per cent to 55.52 per cent year-on-year in November.
Over in the UAE, hotel occupancy declined 2.5 per cent to 83 per cent year-on-year in November, and ADR fell 4.2 per cent to Dh868.48, causing RevPAR to drop 6.6 per cent to Dh721.3.
October saw occupancy in Dubai hotels edging down 0.3 per cent year-on-year to 83 per cent while ADR declined 1.4 per cent to $320, and RevPAR dropped 1.7 per cent to $265, according to data from global consultancy, EY.
“Hotels across Dubai recorded a small drop in average occupancy by 0.3 per cent compared to the same time last year, despite the Eid Al Adha holiday as well as Gitex, the region’s largest consumer IT and electronics show, which took place in October 2014,” Yousef Wahbah, head of transaction real estate of EY, said in a statement.
He added that the fall in occupancy can be attributed to the “additional supply of hotel rooms, not a reduction of inbound travellers”.
Abu Dhabi hotels, meanwhile, experienced a 3 per cent rise in occupancy levels to 83 per cent, 11.8 per cent fall in ADR to $218, and 8.4 per cent drop in RevPAR to $183.
According to EY estimates, the hospitality market in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region continued to recover in October, as it entered the peak season of the industry. “With the winter months attracting more tourists and the seasonal increase in events and conferences, we can predict further increases in overall occupancy rates across the region. We expect this growth to continue into the beginning months of 2015.” Wahbah said.
STR Global’s Winkle, meanwhile, expects that the fall in oil prices will have an impact on hotels in the region. “With recent declines in oil prices it is likely that many markets will be impacted by this in the coming months and have a knock-on effect on the other hotels in the region,” she said.
