The Middle East/Africa region reported decreases in all three key measurements for January 2010, when reported in U.S. dollars, according to data compiled by STR Global.
The region’s occupancy in January fell 2.3 percent to 54.8 percent, average daily rate decreased 1.9 percent to US$170.20, and revenue per available room decreased 4.1 percent to US$93.23.
“The African sub regions are the ones boosting the overall results for the Middle East/Africa region, which is partly due to exchange rates,” said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. “But the Middle East still achieved the second highest RevPAR of all the world sub regions at US$120, surpassed only by the Caribbean with US$128.
“Overall, the Middle East/Africa region continues to be one of two regions that still reports declines in RevPAR”, Randall continued. “It is good to see the decline is getting smaller, from -7 percent in December to -4 percent for January compared to the prior year. Therefore, we still expect the region to follow on the recovery path that we set up last month”.
Highlights among the region’s key markets for January include (year-over-year comparisons, all currency in U.S. dollars):
• Amman, Jordan, reported the largest occupancy increase, rising 7.1 percent to 44.1 percent, followed by Beirut, Lebanon (+6.1 percent to 57.6 percent), and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (+6.1 percent to 72.1 percent).
• Three markets posted double-digit occupancy decreases: Abu Dhabi, UAE (-27.1 percent to 56.5 percent); Muscat, Oman (-21.6 percent to 53.1 percent); and Johannesburg, South Africa (-10.1 percent to 47.9 percent).
• Three markets experienced ADR increases of 25 percent or more: Cape Town, South Africa (+49.0 percent to US$166.30); Johannesburg (+34.6 percent to US$92.62); and Beirut (+25.7 percent to US$206.00).
• Muscat led the ADR decreases, falling 25.0 percent to US$256.73, followed by Abu Dhabi with a 18.3-percent decrease to US$286.80.
• Cape Town ended the month with the largest RevPAR increase, jumping 46.0 percent to US$98.58, followed by Beirut with a 33.4-percent increase to US$118.76.
• Muscat (-41.2 percent to US$136.27) and Abu Dhabi (-40.5 percent to US$162.02) reported the largest RevPAR decreases.
Performances of key countries in January (all monetary units in local currency):
*percentages are increases/decreases for January 2010 vs.January 2009
Global Hotel Review PDF for January 2010.
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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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