“With the Eid Al Fitr Holiday falling in July 2016, many of the MENA hospitality markets performed positively compared to the same period last year.

GCC hotels recorded positive revenue per average room (RevPAR) in July 2016 compared to the period last year. Saudi Arabia was the only exception, experiencing a drop in performance in its hospitality market across its leading cities, which was due to the change in dates of the holy month compared to July 2015.

The highest occupancy in July 2016 was recorded in Jeddah at 81.0%, however this was lower than the 84% occupancy recorded in July 2015.
In the UAE, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and RAK all saw their occupancy and RevPAR rise in July 2016 compared to July 2015.

Dubai’s hospitality market witnessed an increase in occupancy by 6.2% in July 2016 when compared to the same time last year, which resulted in an increase in RevPAR by 4.5% from US$108 in July 2015 to US$113 in July 2016. ADR dropped from US$177 in July 2015 to US$168 in July 2016.

Abu Dhabi’s hospitality market witnessed a positive increase in occupancy from 61.0% in July 2016 to 68.0% in July 2016. 

In July 2016, RAK’s hospitality market witnessed an increase in average occupancy from 48.2% in July 2015 to 65.7% in July 2016. The increase in occupancy resulted in a rise in RevPAR by 27.4% in July 2016 when compared to the same period last year. The increase in occupancy was due to the increase of visitor arrivals from 54,155 in July 2015 to 73,326 in July 2016.

Looking at the wider MENA region, hospitality markets in Beirut and Cairo witnessed a positive increase when compared to the same period last year.

Beirut’s hospitality market witnessed an increase in average occupancy from 58.0% in July 2015 to 63.0% in July 2016. However it should be noted that ADR dropped by 23.7% in July 2016 when compared to the same time last year, resulting in a drop in RevPAR from US$111 in July 2015 to US$92 in July 2016. 

Cairo’s hospitality market witnessed a positive increase across all KPI’s in July 2016. Average occupancy increased by 29.0% in July 2016 when compared to the same period last year. The increase in occupancy was coupled with a jump in ADR from US$133 in July 2015 to US$144 in July 2016, resulting in a rise in RevPAR from US$53 in July 2015 to US$98 in July 2016.

The increase in Beirut and Cairo’s hospitality market is primarily due to the summer holiday where a number of nationals living abroad return back to their home country to spend their holidays.

Overall, the Middle East hospitality markets are performing quite well during the usually quiet summer period. Hotel performance is expected to dip in August and September as the weather gets hotter, but performance should improve again towards the end of the year.”