The Middle East/Africa region suffered declines in all three key measurements in year-over-year results when reported in U.S. dollars for May 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global.
The region's occupancy dropped 11.5 percent to 63.1 percent; average daily rate decreased 6.1 percent to US$145.67; and revenue per available room decreased 17.0 percent to US$91.99.
'Although they have seen some spectacular year-over-year decreases, the Middle East/Africa region is still very strong compared with the other global regions', said James Chappell, managing director of STR Global. 'The region has the lowest RevPAR decline and the highest actual RevPAR for the month of May and the year-to-date May, compared with Asia/Pacific, Americas and Europe. The market has fallen 17 percent, posting US$92 RevPAR for the month and US$100 RevPAR year-to-date, as hotels kept their average room rates higher in the face of a strong drop in demand.
'Of the 26 markets and countries on our Middle East/Africa Hotel Review, political stability in Kenya and Lebanon has seen the hotel market come back strongly with 82 percent and 144 percent RevPAR increases year-to-date,' Chappell continued. 'Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Amman also bucked the trend and reported RevPAR increases for the month and year-to-date'.
Highlights from key markets in the Middle East/Africa region (percentages are May 2009 vs. May 2008):
• Beirut, Lebanon, reported the largest increase in both occupancy (+148.4 percent to 71.4 percent) and RevPAR (+194.6 percent to US$118.89).
• Excluding Beirut, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was the only market to experience an increase in occupancy, which rose 5.5 percent to 71.4 percent.
• Muscat, Oman, was down in occupancy 23.7 percent to 52.1 percent, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.
• Amman, Jordan, experienced the largest increase in ADR, rising 21.6 percent to US$162.22. Beirut was the only other market to experience a double-digit increase in ADR, up 18.6 percent to US$166.40.
• Two markets reported ADR decreases of more than 25 percent: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (-30.3 percent to US$211.41) and Istanbul, Turkey (-26.4 percent to US$211.06).
• Three markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 25 percent: Dubai (-40.4 percent to US$140.65); Istanbul (-36.3 percent to US$148.87); and Muscat (-28.6 percent to US$116.22).
Performances of key countries in May (all monetary units in local currency)*:
*percentages are increases/decreases for May 2009 vs. May 2008
Global Hotel Review PDF for May 2009.
About STR & STR Global
For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research has been the recognized leader for lodging industry benchmarking and research. Smith Travel Research and STR Global offer monthly, weekly, and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 36,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 5 million rooms worldwide. STR is headquartered in Hendersonville, Tenn., and STR Global is based in London. For more information, visit www.smithtravelresearch.com or www.strglobal.com.
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