Dubai Hotel Occupancies Hit 87.6% In February

Dubai once again was the stellar hospitality performer regionally in February, recording four- and five-star occupancies of 87.6 per cent, according to the latest HotStats MENA report.

The city saw an 8.7 per cent surge in Average Room Rates (ARR) to $366.99, resulting in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) rising 7.3 per cent to $321.59.

An increase in leisure demand in the city contributed a four per cent and 3.8 per cent rise in food and beverage revenues respectively, as Total Revenue per Available Room (TRevPAR) grew 5.8 per cent to $554.93.

A slight reduction in payroll costs helped hotels register an 8.6 per cent increase in Gross Operating Profits per Available Room (GOPPAR) to $282.09.

But elsewhere across the region the hospitality trading picture is mixed.

Official Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) statistics show 262,193 guests checked into the emirate’s accommodation during February but ARR dropped to Dhs453 ($123).

The drop was largely due to the IDEX exhibition, which is hosted every two years.

Kuwait hotels’ occupancy slumped 10.2 per cent to 48.4 per cent and a 1.2 per cent rise in ARR to $280.66 was insufficient to negate the fall in occupancy which drove RevPAR down 16.4 per cent to $135.91. That was attributable to the extended national and school holidays that resulted in reduced corporate demand and outflow of residents.

Sharm El Sheikh hotels reported discouraging results for the month of February, as a decline was witnessed across all key performance indicators. Occupancy saw a one per cent drop to 57.7 per cent, while ARR declined 10.9 per cent to $38.44 and caused RevPAR to fall 12.4 per cent to $22.20.

The hotel industry in Egypt has struggled to recover from the popular uprisings that have resulted in a prolonged period of political and civil unrest.

It was better news for Jeddah, which saw its ARR increase 5.2 per cent, closing the month at US$252.22 and boosting RevPAR by 7.2 per cent to US$199.98. February is typically a strong month for hotels in Jeddah, as it marks the advent of peak season.