UAE Hotels See 80% Occupancy

Hotels in the UAE reported occupancy levels of 79.8 per cent in February, a decrease of 2.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2010, according to the latest report issued by hotel consultancy STR Global.

The RevPar (revenue per available room) registered by hotels in the country also fell 3.4 per cent year-on-year during the month, to reach Dhs655.65, and the average daily rate (ADR) during the period decreased by one per cent to reach Dhs821.68.

Some of the biggest drops were reported by hotels in Abu Dhabi- occupancy levels fell 12.2 per cent from February 2011 to 64.4 per cent; ADR during the period fell 20.1 per cent to $178.20; and RevPar decreased 29.9 per cent year-on-year in February to reach $114.72.

In general, the MENA region reported mostly positive performance results in February this year, said the report.

The region’s occupancy jumped 13.3 per cent to 62.6 percent, its ADR decreased 6.8 per cent to $172.01 and its RevPar was up 5.6 per cent to reach $107.74.

“One year on from the Arab Spring, we are seeing positive RevPAR growth on lower base values for Northern Africa, as can be seen in Cairo, which reported 96 per cent RevPAR recovery”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. “We saw occupancy pick up in markets which saw various levels of political protest last year, such as Amman, Beirut and Cairo, while performance continued to be impacted in Manama”.