STR Global reports drop in March hotel occupancy for Middle East and Africa

The region's occupancy dropped 11.0% to 66.3%; average daily rate decreased 5.6% to $159.04; and revenue per available room decreased 16.0% to $105.51.

James Chappell, managing director of STR Global, said:

"The pain continues for Egypt and Dubai, two of the biggest success stories in 2007 and 2008. Both markets fell heavily in RevPAR in March: Although Egypt's year-to-date figures are slightly better at -12.5%, Dubai has lost over 30% in the first quarter of 2009."

"Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Jeddah are the three out of 11 cities reviewed by our Middle East Hotel Review, which grew their RevPAR in quarter one," Chappell continued. "Beirut continued to recover from its low performance due to the political unrest in recent years. Abu Dhabi's good Q1 performance was boosted by good results in the first two months of 2009, but, unfortunately, its March results were flat against last year."

Highlights from key markets in the Middle East/Africa region (percentages are March 2009 vs. March 2008):
• Beirut, Lebanon, reported the highest increases in all three key performance measurements. Occupancy was up 126.3% to 72.9%, ADR rose 52.9% to $162.54 and RevPAR increased 245.8% to $118.53.
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, also saw increased occupancy, which was up 15.3% to 70.0%.
• Two markets reported occupancy decreases of more than 20%: Muscat, Oman (-24.1% to 62.5%) and Amman, Jordan (-22.2% to 61.5%).
• In addition to Beirut, three other markets reported double-digit increases in ADR: Jeddah (+20.3% to $170.05); Amman (+17.3% to $151.74); and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (+15.5% to $287.96).
• Cape Town, Africa (-17.1% to $112.36), Istanbul, Turkey (-14.5% to $169.65), and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (-29.8% to EUR260.78) were the only three markets to report double-digit ADR decreases.
• Jeddah also reported a double-digit increase in RevPAR, which was up 38.7% to $119.00.
• Three markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 25%: Dubai (-40.9% to $195.78); Cape Town (-29.6% to $77.83); and Istanbul (-29.2% to $105.44).