LONDON—The Middle East/Africa region reported mixed year-over-year results in the three key measurements reported in U.S. dollars for September 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global.
The region’s occupancy dropped 8.2 percent to 56.9 percent; average daily rate increased 1.5 percent to US$140.66; and revenue per available room decreased 6.9 percent to US$80.00.
“September showed the lowest monthly RevPAR decline (-6.9 percent) for the region since December 2008”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. “However, whilst we have seen declines in RevPAR stabilise in recent months, the earlier start of Ramadan in mid-August this year benefited this month’s results as business was stronger than in September 2008. RevPAR benefited from the first increase in average room rate since March 2009.
“It is good to see more cities reporting monthly RevPAR increases with Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Istanbul and Jeddah all growing on last year”, she continued. “It will be interesting to see if this positive sentiment continues over the coming months”.
Highlights from key markets in the Middle East/Africa region (percentages are September 2009 vs. September 2008):
• Beirut, Lebanon, reported the largest increases in all three metrics: Occupancy rose 56.2 percent to 58.1 percent; ADR increased 57.5 percent to US$255.71; and RevPAR jumped 146.0 percent to US$148.70.
• Istanbul, Turkey (+11.7 percent to 71.1 percent), and Cairo, Egypt (+2.6 percent to 54.1 percent), also posted occupancy increases.
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, experienced the largest occupancy decrease, falling 25.8 percent to 34.3 percent, followed by Muscat, Oman (-18.0 percent to 37.0 percent), and Cape Town, South Africa (-17.8 percent to 50.6 percent).
• Other than Beirut, two markets reported double-digit ADR increases: Amman, Jordan (+17.9 percent to US$134.71), and Cairo (+15.0 percent to US$118.68).
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates, posted the largest ADR decrease, falling 8.3 percent to US$175.62, followed by Abu Dhabi, UAE, with a 6.8-percent decrease to US$200.52.
• Three markets experienced RevPAR decreases of more than 15 percent: Riyadh (-21.3 percent to US$77.83); Abu Dhabi (-16.9 percent to US$129.92); and Muscat (-15.3 percent to US$72.83).
Performances of key countries in September (all monetary units in local currency):
|
Country
|
Occupancy
|
% change
|
ADR
|
% change
|
RevPAR
|
% change
|
|
Egypt
|
67.5%
|
-1.0%
|
EGP382.12
|
+13.4%
|
EGP258.03
|
+12.2%
|
|
Saudi Arabia
|
47.1%
|
-27.8%
|
SAR974.14
|
-7.2%
|
SAR458.85
|
-33.0%
|
|
South Africa
|
58.0%
|
-13.2%
|
ZAR770.23
|
-2.7%
|
ZAR446.35
|
-15.5%
|
|
United Arab Emirates
|
58.1%
|
-4.3%
|
AED637.38
|
-8.3%
|
AED370.00
|
-12.2%
|
*percentages are increases/decreases for September 2009 vs. September 2008
View Global Hotel Review for September 2009.
About STR & STR Global:
For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research, Inc. (STR) has been the recognized leader for hotel industry benchmarking and research. STR and STR Global offer monthly, weekly and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 38,000 hotel clients, representing over 5 million rooms worldwide. STR is headquartered in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and STR Global is based in London. For more information, visit www.strglobal.com or www.HotelNewsNow.com.
Media contacts:
Konstanze Auernheimer
Director of Marketing
STR Global
KAuernheimer@strglobal.com
+44 (0)207 922 1961
Jeff Higley
Director of Communications/Editorial Director, Digital Media
jeff@smithtravelresearch.com
+1 (615) 824-8664 ext. 3318
Rachael Spann
Communications Coordinator
spann@smithtravelresearch.com
+1 (615) 824-8664 ext. 3305
