Hotels in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, saw occupancy rates soar by nearly 70 percent in April compared to the same month last year, new data showed on Wednesday.
The city, which has been hard hit by a year of protests following unrest in the Gulf kingdom, saw its tourism recovery continue last month after experiencing an initial rebound in March. The Gulf kingdom hosted the Formula One race in April.
Occupancy rates jumped 69.5 percent to 42.5 percent, reporting the largest increase in the Middle East and Africa region, STR Global figures showed.
Manama also posted the largest increase in average daily rates (ADR), rising 30.4 percent to $242.35, followed by Dubai with a 10.7 percent increase to $281.91.
The Bahraini capital also saw its revenue per available room (RevPAR) rocket by 121 percent in April to $103.10, another indicator that hotels in the city are starting to see tourists return.
Cairo, Egypt, which has also been in the doldrums since the start of social and political unrest in 2011, saw occupany rates rise 67.8 percent last month to 52.5 percent.
Abu Dhabi posted the biggest decrease in occupancy rates in the region, falling 13.5 percent to 59.7 percent, as new hotel supply continues to reach market.
Riyadh also posted an occupancy slump in April, dropping 11.3 percent to 65.5 percent, the STR Global data showed.
Riyadh also ended the month with the largest RevPAR decrease, falling 16.7 percent to $175.40, followed by Abu Dhabi with a 14 percent decrease to $98.45.
The Middle East/Africa region reported mostly positive performance results in April, according to STR Global.
The region’s occupancy jumped 10 percent to 63.9 percent, its average daily rate fell 3.6 percent to $172.56 and its revenue per available room rose 6.1 percent to $110.33.
“Northern Africa continued to report strong bounces off weaker occupancy performance last year”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.
“The Middle East put in a solid performance with the fifth month of consecutive occupancy growth supported by eight months of consecutive demand improvements.”
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