LONDON—The Middle East/Africa region suffered declines in all three key measurements in year-over-year results when reported in U.S. dollars for August 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global.
The region’s occupancy dropped 18.2 percent to 59.2 percent; average daily rate decreased 3.7 percent to US$133.31; and revenue per available room decreased 21.2 percent to US$78.89.
“With Ramadan taking place 21 August-19 September 2009, the Middle East/Africa region dropped 21 percent in RevPAR for August falling for the first time behind Europe and the Americas in terms of monthly RevPAR declines,” said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. “We expect this to be a temporary position. For the year-to-date the region still showed the least declines of all four regions. The RevPAR for most Middle Eastern markets suffered from double-digit occupancy declines as business slowed down.”
Highlights from key markets in the Middle East/Africa region (percentages are August 2009 vs. August 2008):
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was the only market to report a single-digit occupancy decrease, falling 1.3 percent to 75.4 percent.
• Muscat, Oman, reported the largest occupancy decrease, falling 38.2 percent to 35.4 percent, followed by Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a 31.5-percent decrease to 38.8 percent.
• Three markets experienced double-digit ADR increases: Beirut, Lebanon (+29.6 percent to US$279.26); Jeddah (+10.6 percent to US$184.48); and Cape Town, South Africa (+10.0 percent to US$110.74).
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates, posted the largest ADR decrease, falling 21.9 percent to US$156.73. Cairo, Egypt, also reported a double-digit ADR decrease, falling 16.2 percent to US$127.03.
• Two markets reported RevPAR increases: Jeddah (+9.2 percent to US$139.13) and Beirut (+6.5 percent to US$209.07).
• Four markets experienced RevPAR declines of more than 30 percent: Muscat (-38.5 percent to US$60.50); Cairo (-36.5 percent to US$73.10); Dubai (-33.6 percent to US$100.46); and Riyadh (-30.1 percent to US$80.67).
Performance of key countries in August (all monetary units in local currency):
| Country |
Occupancy |
% change |
ADR |
% change |
RevPAR |
% change |
| Egypt |
67.6% |
-16.9% |
EGP444.40 |
-10.2% |
EGP300.59 |
-25.4% |
| Saudi Arabia |
51.2% |
-26.2% |
SAR657.64 |
+14.6% |
SAR336.48 |
-15.4% |
| South Africa |
57.2% |
-17.2% |
ZAR765.35 |
+3.2% |
ZAR437.65 |
-14.5% |
| United Arab Emirates |
62.7% |
-16.2% |
AED569.95 |
-18.8% |
AED357.32 |
-32.0% |
*percentages are increases/decreases for August 2009 vs. August 2008
View Global Hotel Review for August 2009.
About STR & STR Global:
For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research has been the recognized leader for hotel industry benchmarking and research. Smith Travel Research and STR Global offer monthly, weekly and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 37,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 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.
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