The Hotelier Middle East Salary Survey 2015 has revealed that hoteliers no longer view Egypt as the lowest paying country in the Middle East, whereas last year it garnered most of the votes.
While last year, Egypt took the majority of votes when it came to which country offers the lowest pay scales (20.4%), this year it came out at joint second place with Syria, perhaps owing to the positive performance of its tourism market in the first quarter of 2015.
According to statistics from TRI Consulting, renewal of demand in Sharm El Sheikh fuelled an impressive 68.6% increase in GOPPAR as the market saw average room rates and occupancy levels increase by 25.5% and 9.3% respectively in March.
TRI Consulting associate director Christ Hewett commented: “Egypt has been through a tough period with hotels facing very low demand levels and therefore had to look at their main expense which is payroll. However as the market is witnessing an uplift, we should see this improve next year.”
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Yemen was considered the lowest paying country for hoteliers, with 16.2% of respondents choosing this option, most likely owing to recent political turmoil in the country.
The UAE fared poorly in 2014, taking 13.2% of the votes for lowest pay packets, however this year’s results were slightly more positive, with 12.6% of respondents saying the same.
On the flip side, the UAE was also rated as offering the highest payscales with 43.1% of respondents claiming the country pays the highest wages.
However this represents a 2.4% decrease on last year when 45.5% said UAE paid the highest.
Commenting on the seemingly contradictory results regarding UAE pay scales, Hewett said: “The view of the salaries in the UAE is most likely being skewed by the increase in the cost of living, driven by higher accommodation costs. When looking at basic salaries, the UAE in general offers high salaries than other markets in the region.”
Last year Saudi Arabia and Qatar were split more or less evenly in terms of pay scale ratings (with 18.2% and 18.5% of respondents respectively claiming they paid highest), this year, Saudi Arabia was rated higher in terms of pay packets than Qatar (21% vs 18.5%).
Wages in Oman were rated lower this year (1.8%) than last (2.2%), while in Bahrain, more respondents this year rated Bahrain as having the highest pay scales in the region (2.6% compared to last year’s 1.3%).
Iraq last year was voted by 3.4% of respondents as having the highest pay scales, while this year that figure dropped to 2.6%.
The survey also revealed the top 10 best companies to work for in the Middle East.
The Hotelier Middle East Salary Survey, now in its seventh year, was completed by 527 hoteliers working in the Middle East hotel industry, making it the most comprehensive to date.
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