Qatar’s hospitality sector has emerged as the best performer among hotels located in most of the major cities across the Middle East region. Hotels in Doha have outperformed the properties located in the region’s prominent tourist destinations such as Cairo, Makkah, and Madinah, in terms of growth in occupancy rates, a latest survey by EY shows.
According to the findings of ‘The Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey’ by EY, the average occupancy rates of hotels in Doha (from January to September 2019 period) increased by 8.5 percent (YTD) to 66.9 percent compared to 58.3 percent for the corresponding period last year.
Doha was closely followed by Beirut which registered an increase of 7.9 percent in terms of occupancy. The occupancy rate of hotels located in the Lebanese capital surged to 71 percent against 63.6 percent for the same period in 2018.
Hotels located in Riyadh (Saudi capital) and Makkah occupied the third and fourth positions in terms of growth in occupancy rates in the Middle East region witnessing 6.6 percent and 4.8 percent growth, respectively. The occupancy rates of hotels in Riyadh and Makkha, by the end of September 2019 (YTD), stood at 59.7 percent and 68 percent, respectively.
Except for Dubai, Kuwait City, Jeddah, and Madinah, occupancy rates of hotels in all other major cities in the Middle East have witnessed a surge from January to September 2019 period compared to the same period last year. The overall occupancy rates of hotels in Kuwait City, Dubai, Jeddah, and Madinah witnessed a decline of varying degrees from 0.7 percent to 1.4 percent. Although the occupancy rate for Dubai City inched up by 0.5 percent to 73 percent from 72.5 percent (by September 2019, YTD), due to a 3.3 percent fall in occupancy rates of Dubai Beach hotels the overall occupancy rate for Dubai fell by 1 percent.
In terms of revenues, Beirut hotels registered a remarkable double-digit growth by the end of September 2019 (YTD) compared to the same period last year. The average revenue of hotels in Beirut (measured by per available room, RevPAR) increased by 23.8 percent to $148 in September 2019 (YTD) from $119 a year ago. Cairo (7 percent), Abu Dhabi (6.5 percent), Doha (5.5 percent), and Manama (4.9 percent) were among the top performers in terms of growth in revenues per available room.
The survey was developed and is maintained by EY Mena under the direction of Yousef Wahbah who leads the Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction Sector across the Mena region.
The survey was based on data provided by hotel management companies and third-party sources. EY noted that it believes the data collected is reliable, and EY has not performed an audit or review of the information gathered and does not express an opinion or any form of assurance on the accuracy of such information.
The Peninsula
27/11/2019
