According to Ernst & Young’s Middle East hotel benchmark survey, health concerns deterred tourists and travelers from visiting Lebanon as shown by the 6 percentage points (pps) drop in the hotel occupancy rate from 60% in October 2014 to 54% in October 2015. Accordingly, the average room rate also dropped by 10% from $178 in October 2014 to $160 in October 2015. The revenues per available room also declined by 19% from $108 in October 2014 to $87 in October 2015.
Hospitality markets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were also down during the month of October with occupancy rates falling by 1 pp each to 84% and 83%, respectively.
However, October saw improvements in the hospitality sectors of Oman, Jordan and Egypt.Oman’s occupancy rate increased by 9 pps to 77%, Jordan’s rate surged by 8 pps to 67% and Egypt’s occupancy rate rose by 2 pps to 51%.
In Jeddah and Riyadh, the occupancy rate rose by 2 pps to 75% and by 12 pps to 65%, respectively.
Lebanon’s Monthly Occupancy Rate
Source: EY Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey