Egypt tourism revival boosts Marriott in Q3

Marriott International saw double-digit RevPAR growth in the third quarter of 2014 across the Middle East and Africa region, driven by an uptick in business in Egypt.

In the three months to the end of September, the company’s RevPAR increased by 15% year-on-year to US $88.59, while occupancy was up 9.6 percentage points to 54%. Average daily rates were down 5.5% to US $164.13.

Speaking during an earnings call after the results were released, Marriott International CFO and executive vice president Carl Berquist said: “In the Middle East, with greater political stability, travel is returning to Egypt.

“Stronger occupancy in Egypt drove RevPAR in the Middle East and Africa region up 15%.

Worldwide, RevPAR was up 8.1% to $114.29, occupancy rose by 2.6 percentage points to 76.9%, and the average daily rate increased by 4.5% to US $148.55.

“In the Middle East and Africa region, we are modelling a mid- to high-single-digit RevPAR growth for 2015 on easy comps in… Egypt.”

Looking ahead, Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson said: “You've got markets like Egypt, where with stability that's returning, we will see RevPAR, we think, continue to build very well,” added Sorenson. “RevPAR in Egypt in our third quarter, for example, was up 100%.

“Now to be fair, that's because a year ago in 2013, conditions were awful, and they still are not back to the levels that we had in 2010 before the government change there. And we'll see how that goes as we go forward.

“In the Middle East and Africa region, we are modelling a mid- to high-single-digit RevPAR growth for 2015 on easy comps in… Egypt.”