According to the latest report published by Ernst & Young, Beirut’s hotel occupancy rate maintained almost the same rate as last year, and stood at 64.6% by November 2018.
The average room rate (ARR) of Beirut’s 4 and 5 star hotels rose by a marginal 1.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to $186. However, the room’s yield (RevPAR) witnessed a yearly increase by 1.2% to $120 by November 2018.
Regionally, the hospitality market in Cairo, witnessed an increase in occupancy by 14.2 percentage points and reached 80.9% in the 11th month of the year when compared to the same period last year. This increase was accompanied with a rise in ADR by 23.7% to $114 in November 2018 and in room’s yield (RevPAR) by 50.0% to $93 in November 2018. The EY report attributed the increase in Cairo’s hotel occupancy to the increase in demand due to the winter tourism season together with the introduction of direct flight services and new air routes to cities in Saudi Arabia, China and Kenya.
Over the same period, Madinah and Riyadh’s hospitality markets witnessed a drop in all Key Performance indicators (KPIs), in November 2018 when compared to November 2017. Madinah’s hospitality market witnessed a drop in occupancy by 13.5 percentage points from 55.4% in November 2017 to 41.9% in November 2018, dragging ADR and room’s yield (RevPAR) lower by 8.4% and 30.7% to $120 and $50 respectively
Also, Riyadh’s hospitality market witnessed a decrease in RevPAR by 30.6% to $104 in November 2018 on the back of the drop in occupancy by 5.1% points that reached 62.8% in November 2018 and in ADR by 24.9% to $165 in November 2018 when compared to the same time last year. According to EY, this drop is justified by the reduced demand after the Hajj season last year. Also the report shed light on the expected increase in performance in the hospitality sector after the implementation of the new strategies for a visitor’s visa outside the scope of the religious tourism, expected in the near future.
Locally, in the month of November alone, Hotel occupancy in Beirut increased by a yearly 14.7% percentage points from 53.8% in November 2017 to 68.5% in November 2018.In fact, the ARR and RevPar increased from $ 157 and $ 85 in November 2017 to $182 and $125 in November 2018 respectively. Beirut’s tourism and hospitality sectors improved markedly with the increase in tourist arrivals to enjoy winter tourism attractions.
Monthly Occupancy Rates in Beirut’s 4- and 5- star Hotels
Source: EY Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey