Beirut’s Hotel Occupancy Rate reached a high of 44.6% by August 2021

According to Ernst & Young Middle East hotel benchmark survey, the occupancy rate in Beirut’s 4- and 5-star hotels reached 44.6 percentage point (pp) by August 2021, up from last year’s registered 19.0% during the same period.

On a monthly performance, Beirut occupancy rate recorded an uptick of 20.1% in August 2021 from August last year, to reach 59.1%. Furthermore, the average room rate has increased by 409.2% from 292,741 Lebanese pounds in August 2020 to reach 1,490,655 Lebanese pounds in August 2021, equivalent to drop of 62.7 % in USD; 195$ in August 2020 to 73$ in August 2021.

As such, RevPAR (Revenue per available room) up surged by 672.4% in LBP during the same period; 113,999 Lebanese pounds in August 2020 to 880,477 Lebanese pounds in August 2021, equivalent to drop of 43.5% in USD from 76$ in August 2020 to 43$ in August 2021.

On a regional level, the occupancy rates in Dubai overall increased by 17.5% year-to-date (YTD) to 57.9%. By the same token, the Average room rate and Room yields both increased by 6.6% and 52.9% to stand at $216 and $125, respectively by August 2021.

In turn, in KSA, Riyadh’s hotel occupancy rate increased by 1.2% to reach 53.0% by August 2021, and average room rate decreased by 11% to $127 by August 2021. However, for Makkah city, the Average room rate increased by 65.0% to $173.

Moreover, in Amman, occupancy rate dropped by 5.6% to reach 26.6% by August 2021, average room rate increased by 19.9% to reach $133 per night, however room yield decreased by 1.0% to $35.

Beirut witnessed an exceptional summer season, as the occupancy rate grew by 20.1 percentage points in August 2021 which can be attributed to the reductions on COVID-19 measures, low cases and successful vaccination drive. In addition, Lebanon is now considered a cheap country due the devaluation of its national currency which is attracting new genres of tourist, especially European tourist. Whether this attraction will carry to the coming holiday season is yet to be seen by EY Middle East hotel benchmark survey.

Source: EY, BlomInvest

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