Strong performances in the UAE and Saudi Arabia helped to drive revenue and occupancy growth across the Middle East & Africa region for Rezidor Group in the second quarter.
Like-for-like RevPAR in the region in the second quarter was up 9.6% year-on-year to €72.80 (US $97.99), occupancy up 4.6 percentage points to 69.9% and average room rates up 4.7% to €104.60 (US $140.79).
The United Arab Emirates (11.0%) had the most significant RevPAR growth rate, followed by South Africa (10.3%) and Saudi Arabia (9.9%). The key drivers in the area were business and leisure individuals.
Meanwhile, through the first six months of the year, occupancy was up 3.1 percentage points to 69.2%, average room rates up 4.7% to €111.30 (US $149.81) and RevPAR up 7.9% to €77 (US $103.64).
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During the first half of the year, the company opened two hotels in the region, with a total of 245 rooms. Meanwhile, it signed ten hotels with a combined 1,777 rooms. This meant it had a total of 50 hotels under operation and another 50 in the pipeline.
Across the entire group, RevPAR was up by 3.7% to €71.8 (US $96.64) in the first half of the year, while overall revenue increased by 1.2% to €458.50 (US $617.15 million).
“We see a rate driven, modest recovery in several EMEA markets despite overall macroeconomic uncertainties,” said Rezidor Group president & CEO Wolfgang M. Neumann. “During the quarter, Western Europe and the Nordics posted a good RevPAR performance, with the exception of Norway which showed a more pronounced impact of the Easter timing.
“Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa continued to show a positive trend. The exceptions included Russia and Ukraine, which suffered from the regional political turmoil.”
Among the properties the company signed in the second quarter of the year were four hotels in Saudi Arabia, including the new-build Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence, Jeddah Corniche.
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