Hardest hit were the Egyptian markets, impacted by a decline in group/tour operator business, with only the resort market of Sharm El Sheikh recording an increase in occupancy. Due to neighbouring conflict, performance in Beirut hotels is generally weaker than last year however end-of-period results show a positive trend due to a regional banking conference held in April and the unusually weak performance figures in the first half of 2000 due to Israeli air raids. Hotels in Jordan and Syria were similarly impacted.
The continued strength of the price of crude oil is fueling development activity in the Gulf countries. Dubai continues to consolidate its position as an economic and tourist hub for the Middle East with planned mega-projects such as Palm Island and Dubai Festival City on the horizon. Jumeirah Beach was once again the top performing market in terms of average room rate, achieving US$191 in the first half of the year, and the sixth best performing market in terms of revPAR growth. Overall, Dubai was the fourth best performing market in terms of revPAR growth. Manama, Abu Dhabi and Muscat were the top performers with double digit revPAR growth when measured in US dollars.
Selected top performing markets ranked in terms of growth in RevPAR (in US$)
Manama 66% Occupancy, US$109 Average room rate, US$72 RevPAR, 16.7% RevPAR growth
Abu Dhabi 77% Occupancy, US$89 Average room rate, US$69 RevPAR, 14.8% RevPAR growth
Muscat 68% Occupancy, US$65 Average room rate, US$44 RevPAR, 13.5% RevPAR growth
Dubai-All 79% Occupancy, US$125 Average room rate, US$100 RevPAR, 10.1% RevPAR growth
Kuwait City 55% Occupancy, US$179 Average room rate, US$98 RevPAR, 8.1% RevPAR growth
Launched in 1996 as the definitive source of hotel performance data outside North America, the Andersen Hotel Industry Benchmark Survey comprises information gathered from more than 5,000 hotels in 300 markets across 140 countries. The survey currently tracks hotel performance everywhere outside the North America. Regional surveys are produced for Asia Pacific, the Caribbean and Latin America, Europe and the Middle East and Africa. These are supported by in-depth country/city reports for Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and London. Further surveys are underway for Benelux, Japan and Spain.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
