Data from STR has revealed that hotels in the Middle East reported negative 2018 performance results, while hotels in Africa delivered growth, when compared to 2017.
In the Middle East, occupancy dipped very slightly by 0.5% to 64.6%. ADR, however, dropped 5.2% to US$155.45, and RevPAR also fell by 5.7% to $100.45.
Within Africa, occupancy stood at 60.6% (an increase of 4.7%), and ADR rose by 7.1% to $118.31. RevPAR also increased to $71.74 (a 12.1% growth). Northern Africa led the region in performance metrics: occupancy (+11.8% to 61.1%), ADR (+13.8% to $96.81) and RevPAR (+27.2% to $59.18).
Within Northern Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia each recorded double-digit RevPAR growth for the year, with Cairo & Giza posting the highest occupancy since 2008 amid tourist recovery (72.5%, a 11% increase).
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ADR and RevPAR also showed positive movement; the former showed an increase of 10.8% to to EGP1,713.35 ($96), and the latter grew +23.1% to EGP1,242.20 ($69).
According to STR analysts, this sub-market's 10.5% rise in demand (room nights sold) was mostly a result of tourism recovery, improved security protocols, resumed flights with Russia, and marketing campaigns. ADR growth was helped by the combination of increased guest demand and competitive pricing due to the devaluation of the Egyptian Pound. Overall, the absolute occupancy level was the highest for Cairo & Giza since 2008, while the ADR value was the highest STR has ever benchmarked for the sub-market.
This backs up Hotelier Middle East's analysis of the Egypt market being one to watch:
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