Doha leads regional hotel occupancy growth in H1

The Middle East and Africa region reported a 1% increase in occupancy to 64.6%, a 3.5% increase in average daily rate to US $169.22, and a 4.5% increase in RevPAR to US $109.24 in the first half of the year, according to the latest data from STR Global.

Doha and Beirut reported the largest growth in occupancy with increases of 17.4% and 17.2% respectively. 

Three Middle Eastern markets experienced RevPAR growth of more than 15%, including Manama, which was up 27.5%to $123.12; Beirut with a 20.4% rise to $105.37; and Doha, which saw a 15.6% increase to $130.05, while Jeddah and Manama witnessed a double-digit growth in ADR to $282.62 and $212.73 respectively.

According to STR Global managing director Elizabeth Winkle, Jordan and the UAE have been the strongest performers in the region during the first half of the year.

“While there has not been a lot of movement in occupancy, rate has increased by 5.4% when measured in a constant-currency basis in U.S. dollars, resulting in RevPAR growth of 6.4% for the first six months of the year," she said.

"We are seeing rate growth for all three sub-regions, including the Middle East (+2.4%), Northern Africa (+2.0%) and Southern Africa (+7.2%). It is nice to see some ADR growth across the region, albeit muted, in spite of instability and turbulence in many of the countries.”

The report also revealed that Jordan marked a 11.4% increase and Bahrain reflected an 18% increase in RevPAR for the first six months.

In June 2014, the region’s occupancy fell 0.6% to 61.3%; its ADR increased 3% to US$142.80; and its RevPAR rose 2.4% to US$87.57.