Dubai hotels see biggest losses in the region

BURJ AL ARAB: Dubai's most famous hotel. (Getty Images)

Dubai hotels saw the biggest falls in revenue in the region in the first half of 2009, according to a survey of key Middle East cities published on Tuesday.

Hotels in 22 cities in the region witnessed an average 10.9 percent decrease in occupancies and a 17.2 percent drop in revenue per available room (RevPAR), an industry benchmark, said a report by US hospitality research firm STR Global and Deloitte & Touche Middle East.

Occupancy rates in Dubai, the region's trade and tourism hub, fell 12.9 percent compared to the year-earlier period, and RevPAR plunged 35 percent.

Dubai, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists to its beaches and luxury hotels, predominantly from Europe and Russia, continued to suffer as the global financial crisis bit into the spending power of those countries.

Hotels in Oman's capital Muscat were among those badly hit as they experience "high seasonality in occupancies and revenues". Occupancies were down 21.7 percent and RevPAR 16.6 percent in the first six months of the year.

Lebanon's main tourism destination, Beirut, remained the top performer in the period, as it enjoyed "increased political stability in 2008 and 2009".

Beirut's occupancy levels soared 69.4 percent and RevPAR surged 125.2 percent, due to a significant inflow of tourists, the survey said, adding that it expected the city's hospitality sector to continue growing.

The Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah followed Beirut in regional gains, as hotels were not "impacted dramatically" by seasonality and the sector enjoyed steady growth.

Jeddah is a local tourism hub and a landing port for Muslim pilgrims en route to Mecca.

Jeddah hotels' RevPAR was 11.5 percent up until the end of June 2009, compared to the same period last year, while occupancy levels stood at 70.4 percent.

UAE capital Abu Dhabi was also among positive performers, seeing RevPAR growth of 3.2 percent in the period.

Occupancies, however, dropped 6.8 percent to 79.2 percent in the first six months. The emirate's monthly occupancies also declined in 2009 compared to 2008, the survey said.

RevPAR for Abu Dhabi hotels in the month of June 2009 decreased by 12.2 percent compared to the same month last year. (Reuters)

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READERS' COMMENTS

Enough greed
Posted by Omar, Dubai on Saturday 1 August 2009 at 21:30 UAE time


Enough greed. Enough!Where is the world heading to?Dubai can NOT have hotel rates higher than Tokyo. Intercontinental Festival City can NOT be more expensive than Intercontinental ANA- Opposite Tokyo Tower!!!That's insane and doe snot make any sense. One lady called me last Wed. offering me a corporate rate of AED 1,150!That's 310$$ higher than Intercontinental ANA Tokyo where i paid 248$$!!Give me a break please with your prices. I am a great believer in Dubai as second to none in the entire MEASA region but Dubai has NOT reached yet the level of Tokyo, LA, London so give us a break and reduce your prices more so you get more business. Enough greed.

Increse in number of hotels
Posted by Muhammad Nauman, Dubai, UAE on Wednesday 29 July 2009 at 16:14 UAE time


One significant reason in decrese in revenue per available room for hotels is the increase in number of new hotels and resorts as compared to last year. Despite the fact that number of tourists has increased as per airport records, due to the increase in number of rooms, the average revenue decreases. The article is not comparing the total revenue of hotels of current year with that of last year.

I dont get it
Posted by Fadi, Dubai, UAE on Wednesday 29 July 2009 at 13:54 UAE time


I fail to do the math here, how can you have more visas for people who do neither stay at hotels nor rent a flat?

Dubai Visitors
Posted by Saleem Nadeer, Dubai, UAE on Wednesday 29 July 2009 at 09:45 UAE time


Actually I know someone who works in the Dubai Tourist Industry. From what he tells me, even he doesn't quite understand is that there is in fact an increase in visitors, despite the global financial problems. The nicest hotels around Dubai are in fact quite busy. But this being the summer period, some of these hotels especially the exotic ones in the desert have reduced their rates.

Emirates flights have actually increased in some sectors of the world. A lot of cheaper flights are being offered, which of course all transit in Dubai, meaning increase of passengers. He also points out that Immigration staff at the airport are unnecessarily being rude to customers and causing unnessary delays and frustration with passengers, and this is on occasion having an impact. Apparantly alot of them have a confrontational and immature attitude towards passengers.

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