Lebanon Has The Lowest Hotel Occupancy Rate Among Arab Countries In January 2023

According to Ernst & Young Middle East hotel benchmark survey, the occupancy rate in Beirut’s 4- and 5-star hotels reached 36.8% percentage points (pp) by January 2023, up from last year’s percentage of 34.7% but it is relatively low as Lebanon had the lowest hotel occupancy rate among all Arab countries. Although Lebanon enjoys a favorable Mediterranean weather, cheaper tourism, as well as attractive winter season, surprisingly, Gulf countries attract much more tourism activity than Lebanon during all seasons. Consequently, we can assume that Lebanon is welcoming most likely expats rather than tourists in the high season of holidays and summer.

In more details, the average room rate in dollars currency in Lebanon has decreased by 27.7% to stand at $50 by for the first month of 2023 while the RevPAR dropped by 23.3% to reach $18 for January 2023.

Moreover, the average room rate in Lebanese pound has increased significantly by 98.1% due to the sharp deterioration of the national currency despite the drop in room rate in dollars prices. in details, the average room rate in LBP reached LBP 2,887,646 in January 2023 while RevPAR (Revenue per available room) jumped by 110% from LBP 505,622 in January 2022 to LBP 1,061,756 in January 2023.

On a regional level, hospitality markets in Makkah and Cairo City witnessed an increase across all performance indicators in January 2023 compared to January 2022. In more details, the occupancy rates in Makkah added 46.8% to reach 86.6% while Cairo city occupancy rates added 7.6% to reach 71.9%. Makkah’s hospitality sector observed a remarkable RevPAR growth of 265.8% from $38 in January 2022 to $140 in January 2023. Meanwhile, average room rate in Makkah jumped 67.9% from $97 in January 2022 to $162 by January 2023. As for Cairo – City, several international events along with the relaunch of tourism campaigns such as “Follow the Sun” are expected to have boosted the sector performance during the period.  Average room rate added 125.7% from $59 in January 2022 to $134 in January 2023 which resulted in a notable RevPAR growth of 152.5% from $38 to $96 during the same period.

Occupancy Rate and changes by January 2023:

Lebanon Has The Lowest Hotel Occupancy Rate Among Arab Countries In January 2023

Source: EY, BlomInvest

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