Abu Dhabi bucks MidEast occupancy fall in Ramadan

Abu Dhabi hotels bucked an occupancy rate decline across the Middle East in August related to Ramadan, new data from STR Global showed on Saturday.
The UAE capital was the only city in the Middle East and Africa to show an increase in occupancy (3.9%).
Overall, the region showed an occupancy fall of 9.5% last month, STR Global said.
“The holy month of Ramadan fell together with the month of August this year, reducing demand across the region”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.

“This, in addition to the consequences following the Arab Spring, impacted this month’s results. Average room rates grew across the regions with the only reported declines across Northern Africa.”
The region ended the month with a 9.5% decrease in occupancy to 48.3%, a 12.9 percent rise in average daily rate to US $149.65, and a 2.2% increase in revenue per available room to $72.31.
Cairo, Egypt (down 50.9 percent to 21.8 percent), and Amman, Jordan (down 37.7% to 28.2%), posted the largest occupancy decreases for the month.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia achieved the largest ADR increase, rising 6% to $223, followed by Jeddah with a 5.3% increase to $216.32.
Beirut, Lebanon, fell 20% in ADR to $202.80, experiencing the largest decrease in that metric, followed by Abu Dhabi with a 16.7% decrease to $109.54.
Three markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 30 percent with Cairo falling most by nearly 55% to $24.46.