The Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey released by Ernst & Young indicated that hotel occupancy increased in 12 out of 16 Middle Eastern cities during the first eight months of 2012, relative to the same period of last year. It remained the same in two of them and decreased in the remaining two.
In details, the cities to have posted a rise in occupancy rates were Amman (19%), Sharm El Shaikh (14%), Manama (10%), Hurghada (8%), Beirut (8%), Jeddah (8%), Cairo (6%), Makkah (3%), Muscat (3%), Dubai (3%), Madina (2%) and Al Ain (1%).
Occupancy rates in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh remained constant on a yearly basis
Those to have recorded a decrease in tenancy rates were Kuwait (-3%) and Doha (-3%). As to occupancy rates in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, they remained constant on a yearly basis.
It is worth noting that Saudi cities, namely Makkah and Jeddah recorded the highest occupancy rates of 85% and 81% in the first eight months of 2012, respectively. At the lower end of the scale were Cairo and Manama with corresponding occupancy rates of 40% and 37% in the aforementioned period of 2012.
The most significant increase was recorded in Madina and Dubai with corresponding improvements of 14.2% and 9.1% annually to reach US$ 207 and US$ 236
As to average room rates, they were mostly on a downward trend as ten cities recorded a decline while the rest reported an annual increase in the first eight months of 2012. In details, Cairo, Abu Dhabi and Hurghada posted the highest contractions of 16.9%, 11.8% and 9.3% to record average room rates of US$ 102, US$ 182 and US$ 31, respectively, in the first eight months of 2012. The most significant increase was recorded in Madina and Dubai with corresponding improvements of 14.2% and 9.1% annually to reach US$ 207 and US$ 236.
The highest rise was witnessed by Manama with 39.6%. It was followed by Amman with 38.5%
As such, rooms’ yield in most cities within the region rose in the first eight months of 2012, be it from greater hotel occupancy or from higher room rates, or in some cases both. Indeed, the highest rise was witnessed by Manama with 39.6%. It was followed by Amman with 38.5%. Meanwhile, the steepest declines were registered by Abu Dhabi (-11.2%), Doha (-6.3%) and Al Ain (-5.8%).
Mena Weekly Monitor – Bank Audi
