Dubai hotel occupancy, average room rates down in December 2015

Friday, Feb 12, 2016

Dubai: Occupancy and average room rates (ARR) of four- and five-star hotels in Dubai continued to slide in December 2015, as hotel room supply increases, according to a new report from research firm HotStats.

ARR dropped 4.6 per cent to $315.79 (Dh1,159) year-on-year in December, while occupancy edged down to 80.2 per cent, which led to revenue per available room (RevPAR — an industry measure of occupancy and rates) to decrease 5.9 per cent to $253.32. Total revenue per available room (TRevPAR) was 10.3 per cent lower last December at $434.16.

Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, hotels saw occupancy decline 5.5 per cent to 74.9 per cent and RevPAR fall 6.9 per cent to $130.86. TRevPAR decreased 7.6 per cent to $268.49.

Demand levels across Doha hotels were impacted by weaker economic activity in December, having dropped 3.4 per cent year-on-year to 66.4 per cent. A 13.9 per cent decrease in ARR to $196.85 led to an 18.2 per cent fall in RevPAR to $130.69.

Jeddah hotels continued to see softening demand in December, recording a 6.2 per cent drop in occupancy to 65 per cent. Hoteliers could not offset the falling demand as ARR fell 7.2 per cent to $237.09.

Elsewhere in the region, hotels in Beirut posted a 5.6 per cent reduction in occupancy to 59.7 per cent in December. However, hotels were able to yield higher ARR, which was up 17.8 per cent to $157.28. RevPAR rose 7.6 per cent to $93.84 and TRevPAR increased 17.2 per cent to $185.58.

Staff Report