Mideast hotels hit by global slowdown in Jan-Apr

HOTEL SURVEY: Hotels in the Middle East, and Dubai in particular, have been hit by the global slowdown during the first four months of 2009.

Middle East hotel occupancy and revenues fell during a global economic slowdown in the first four months of 2009, including a 35 percent slump in Dubai hotel room revenues, an industry survey showed on Wednesday.

Hotel sectors in Abu Dhabi and Oman also experienced slowdowns between January and April, while hotels in Lebanon's capital Beirut and the Saudi Red Sea port city of Jeddah bucked the downtrend, STR Global said in a report.

STR Global, which along with Deloitte & Touche tracks hotel performance in 22 Middle East markets, said occupancy at regional hotels dropped an average of 9.6 percent in the first four months compared with the same period last year.

Revenue per available room (revPAR), an industry benchmark, fell 14.9 percent over the same period, it said.

Gulf commerce and trade hub Dubai's hotel industry far exceeded the regional averages, with occupancies down 16 percent and revPAR slumping 34.5 percent, STR Global said.

Dubai, home to the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab hotel, is suffering from a real estate slump that has had ripple effects on other sectors - including retail, tourism, trade and financial services - that are key contributors to its economy.

"Dubai is challenged with continued new supply of hotel rooms. Demand generation efforts continue to play an important role in marketing strategies of hoteliers," the report said.

Neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital and holder of the bulk of the UAE's oil reserves, saw an overall drop of 6.6 percent in occupancy and 10.5 percent decline in revPAR in the first four months, the survey showed.

Oman's capital Muscat witnessed a decline in occupancy of 19.8 percent and in revPAR of 6.3 percent in the four months.

While hotel in most cities suffered, those in Beirut and Jeddah performed better than they did last year.

Beirut hotels witnessed an 83.6 percent surge in occupancy while revPAR more than doubled, STR Global said, attributing the rise to a "return to stability" in Lebanon.

Jeddah hotel occupancy rose 3.7 percent and revPAR 28.2 percent, it added. (Reuters)

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