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28 March 2024

Hotels show RevPAR drop of 32.3% in 11 months

Occupancy levels drop to 69.2% in January-November 2009 period, (AP)

Published
By Shweta Jain

Dubai hotels saw their RevPAR (revenue per available room) – an industry benchmark, dropping to $163.36 (Dh599.53) in the January-November 2009 period, recording a decline of 32.3 per cent over the same period in 2008, according to the Deloitte analysis of STR Global data of hotel performances in the Middle East.

The emirate's hotels saw their occupancy levels, meanwhile, dropping to 69.2 per cent in the 11 months period ended November 2009, declining by 11.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2008.

The latest performance is though slightly better but not remarkably different from what Deloitte and STR Global data revealed in the first 10 months of 2009 when Dubai hotels witnessed a 33.8 per cent decline in RevPAR and the occupancy decline of 13.1 per cent in January-October 2009 over the same period a year earlier.

In the Middle East, overall, hotel occupancy levels in the 11 months period ended November 2009 rested at 61.9 per cent, resulting in a decline of 10.1 per cent from the corresponding period in 2008. Whereas, the RevPAR of Middle East hotels declined by 17.9 per cent in the January-November 2009 period compared to the same period in 2008 to $125.37, marginally higher from the data recorded for the first 10 months of 2009.

The July-September research by Deloitte-STR Global, meanwhile, showed occupancy decreasing by 10.6 per cent in September 2009 compared to August 2009, with the average growth of occupancy in the third quarter (July-September 2009) being 1.86 percentage points higher than in the same period in 2008.

Abu Dhabi, however, remained the most affected in terms of RevPAR as the hotels in the capital recorded a RevPAR drop of 9.6 per cent – to $208.77 – in the 11 months period last year compared to the same period in 2008.

The January-October 2009 data though revealed that Abu Dhabi experienced only a marginal RevPAR drop of 1.7 per cent over the same period in 2008.

The occupancy levels in Abu Dhabi hotels dropped by 11.7 per cent in the January-November 2009 span to rest at 73 per cent occupancy over the same period the previous year, according to the Deloitte and STR Global data.

Citing reasons for the drop in occupancy levels across the Middle East, Rob O'Hanlon, Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Partner at Deloitte in the Middle East, recently told Emirates Business that the spending power of tourists to the region has been affected as a result of the global economic slowdown. "Recent additions to hotel stock in the region will have reduced occupancy levels," he said.

Among the key world markets the Middle East hotels along with European hotels achieved an occupancy rate of 61.9 per cent in the 11 months period ended November 2009, while Asia-Pacific and the Americas achieved lower rates of 60.6 per cent and 56.3 per cent respectively in the same period.

The Middle East hotels, meanwhile, achieved a RevPAR of $125.37 compared to $81.64 in Europe and $55.89 in the Americas during Jan-Nov 2009.

 

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