Dubai hotels lead Mideast Oct revenues decline

TOURISM INDUSTRY: Dubai hotels saw the biggest falls in room revenues in October in the Middle East and Africa region. (Getty Images)

Dubai hotels posted the largest drop in room revenues in the Middle East region in October, compared to the same month in 2008.

The emirate posted the largest average daily rate (ADR) decrease, falling 29.3 percent to $264.73, while revenue per available room (revPAR) fell more than 35 percent to $198.22, according to latest research by STR Global.

In the ADR category, Muscat was the next worst performer with a 12.8 percent decrease to $269.79 while the Oman capital city also fared badly with revPAR decreases of nearly 28 percent to $178.39.

The region reported decreases in all three key measurements reported for October, according to the latest data.

The region’s occupancy dropped 8.5 percent to 68.3 percent while ADR fell 1.9 percent to $166.95 and revPAR decreased 10.2 percent to $114.10.

“As October 2008 was a strong month for revPAR growth (24.6 percent) across the region, the comparables for October 2009 fell behind Europe (down 1.6 percent) and Asia/Pacific (down 3.1 percent),” said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.

“Out of the 11 cities tracked on our Middle East/Africa Performance Review, only Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat reported monthly revPAR declines higher than the regional average.

The overall declining demand and in cases like Dubai, the increases in supply are reasons for these performances. Muscat had a very strong October in 2008 and therefore now sees the higher-than-average reduction," she added.

The report also showed that hotels in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reported the largest occupancy increase, up 7.9 percent to 70.4 percent, followed by Beirut, Lebanon with a 7.4-percent increase to 83.5 percent.

Two GCC markets reported double-digit occupancy decreases - Muscat fell 17.3 percent to 66.1 percent while Abu Dhabi dropped 11.3 percent to 80.1 percent).

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READERS' COMMENTS

Past, Present & Future
Posted by Paddy, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 1 December 2009 at 11:57 UAE time


Even though occupancy levels are tumbling, quite a few of the hotels in Dubai refuse to reduce their sky-high rates!!! They are still in Utopia, dreaming of the by-gone days when they could quote atrocious rates and surprisingly get away with it. They have to get real now and deal with the present situation which sees a lack of business travellers, holiday makers etc. Else, there is no future for them.

If you think..
Posted by Mike on Thursday 26 November 2009 at 18:23 UAE time


If you think October was bad, wait till the November figures come in. November has been horrendous.

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