According to Ernst & Young Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey, Beirut’s hotel occupancy rate slightly declined from 55% by April 2015 to 54% by April 2016. The downtick in Beirut’s hotel occupancy may be attributed to GCC travel warnings against travelling to Lebanon. Accordingly, Beirut registered one of the lowest average room rates in the region, as it dropped from $166 by April 2015 to $136 by April 2016. The lower average room rate led to a drop in the room yields from $92 by April 2015 to $74 by April 2016.
The best performers in the region were Egypt and Bahrain, as Cairo’s and Manama’s hotel occupancy rates edged up by 13 p.p. and 5 p.p. yearly to 60% and 57%, respectively. The progress in these countries is mainly attributed to their relatively improving political situation. Over the same period, the largest downturns in 4 and 5 star hotels’ occupancy rate were recorded in Saudi cities, mostly Makkah and Madinah which decreased by 10 p.p. and 14 p.p.to 53% and 68%, respectively. Also, slower economic activity resulting from lower oil prices may have been behind the drop in hotel occupancy rates in Kuwait, which fell by 15 p.p. yearly to 43%.
Not surprisingly, the highest hotel occupancy rate of 86% was registered in Dubai. The Emirate’s ADR and RevPar remained the highest in the region at $287 and $249 respectively, despite the 8.8% and 10.2% yearly drops witnessed over the same period.
Monthly Occupancy Rate of Beirut Hotels
Source: E&Y Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey