Yousef Wahbah, MENA Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction Sector Leader at EY said:

“Overall, internationally branded four and five star hotels in the Middle East witnessed a split among the increases and declines of KPIs in October 2017 when compared to the same month last year. Beirut had the highest increase in occupancy with 13.5% points when compared to the same period last year. The significant increase in occupancy may be attributed to the lifting of travel bans and favorable climate conditions attracting visitors. Furthermore, Cairo witnessed the highest increase of 87.8% in average room rate (ADR) and 127.6% in RevPAR during October 2017 when compared to the same month last year. This was the highest increase in ADR and RevPAR in the region.

In the UAE, Abu Dhabi’s hospitality market witnessed an increase in occupancy by 8.9% points, coupled with an increase in ADR from US$125 in October 2016 to US$128 in October 2017. This resulted in an increase in RevPAR by 14.1% when compared to the same time last year. The increase in occupancy can be attributed to events such as the Abu Dhabi cruise season that runs from October to May and the 44th World Skills Competition held in October.

In Dubai, the hospitality market witnessed a slight decrease in occupancy by 2.4% points in October 2017 when compared to the same period last year. It also witnessed a slight dip in ADR by 6%, which caused a drop in RevPAR by 8.7% from US$236 in October 2016 to US$215 in October 2017. The increased number of hotels in Dubai has made for a competitive market space, leading to hotels looking to maintain occupancy levels by lowering their ADRs.

Saudi Arabia witnessed an increase in occupancy in cities such as Makkah, Riyadh and Madinah when compared to the previous year. Occupancy increased by 13.9% in Makkah, 5.9% in Riyadh, 1.8% in Madinah, but faced a slight decrease in Jeddah by 2.6%. However, the ADR increased in Jeddah by 7.6% and had a slight dip in Makkah by 6.9%, Riyadh by 9.4% and Madinah by 16.1%. In regards to RevPAR, Jeddah experienced an increase of 2.7%, Makkah of 33.2%, while Riyadh decreased by 0.6% and Madinah by 12.6%.

Doha’s hospitality market witnessed the lowest performance across all KPIs in the Middle East in October 2017, when compared to the same period last year. The internationally branded four and five star hotels witnessed a drop in occupancy by 11.1% points in October 2017 when compared to October 2016. They also saw a slight dip in ADR from US$197 in October 2016 to US$167 in October 2017, causing the RevPAR to decline by 28.8% from US$135 in October 2016 to US$96 in October2017.

In addition to Beirut witnessing the biggest increase in occupancy rate in the region at 13.5%, the hospitality market also witnessed an increase in RevPAR of 34.8% when compared to the same period last year. This increase was due to the ADR increasing from US$137 in October 2016 to US$149 in October 2017, coupled with an increased occupancy levels.

In Amman, the hospitality market witnessed a dip in occupancy by 5.3% points compared to last year. They also saw a decrease in ADR of 9.4%, which resulted in a drop in RevPAR from US$98 in October 2016 to US$81 in October 2017.

The MENA hospitality market is expected to continue the trend of a softer performance but will look to see improvements in a few cities over the next few months due to annual exhibitions, events, and festivals.”

© Press Release 2017