The Middle East/Africa region reported mixed year-over-year results when reported in U.S. dollars for March 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global.

The region’s occupancy dropped 11.0 percent to 66.3 percent; average daily rate decreased 5.6 percent to US$159.04; and revenue per available room decreased 16.0 percent to US$105.51.

“The pain continues for Egypt and Dubai, two of the biggest success stories in 2007 and 2008,” said James Chappell, managing director of STR Global. “Both markets fell heavily in RevPAR in March: Although Egypt’s year-to-date figures are slightly better at -12.5 percent, Dubai has lost over 30 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

“Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Jeddah are the three out of 11 cities reviewed by our Middle East Hotel Review, which grew their RevPAR in quarter one,” Chappell continued. “Beirut continued to recover from its low performance due to the political unrest in recent years. Abu Dhabi’s good Q1 performance was boosted by good results in the first two months of 2009, but, unfortunately, its March results were flat against last year.”

Highlights from key markets in the Middle East/Africa region (percentages are March 2009 vs. March 2008):

  • Beirut, Lebanon, reported the highest increases in all three key performance measurements. Occupancy was up 126.3 percent to 72.9 percent, ADR rose 52.9 percent to US$162.54 and RevPAR increased 245.8 percent to US$118.53.
  • Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, also saw increased occupancy, which was up 15.3 percent to 70.0 percent.
  • Two markets reported occupancy decreases of more than 20 percent: Muscat, Oman (-24.1 percent to 62.5 percent) and Amman, Jordan (-22.2 percent to 61.5 percent).
  • In addition to Beirut, three other markets reported double-digit increases in ADR: Jeddah (+20.3 percent to US$170.05); Amman (+17.3 percent to US$151.74); and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (+15.5 percent to US$287.96).
  • Cape Town, Africa (-17.1 percent to US$112.36), Istanbul, Turkey (-14.5 percent to US$169.65), and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (-29.8 percent to EUR260.78) were the only three markets to report double-digit ADR decreases.
  • Jeddah also reported a double-digit increase in RevPAR, which was up 38.7 percent to US$119.00.
  • Three markets reported RevPAR decreases of more than 25 percent: Dubai (-40.9 percent to US$195.78); Cape Town (-29.6 percent to US$77.83); and Istanbul (-29.2 percent to US$105.44).
Performances of key countries in March (all monetary units in local currency):
Country Occupancy % change ADR % change RevPAR % change
Egypt 70.1% -16.9% EGP445.93 -0.7% EGP312.56 -17.5%
Saudi Arabia 63.4% +11.8% SAR688.47 +11.9% SAR436.72 +25.1%
South Africa 64.9% -13.0% ZAR847.62 +2.9% ZAR550.45 -10.5%
United Arab Emirates 76.4% -14.0% AED944.60 -24.3% AED721.22 -34.9%

About STR & STR Global: For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research has been the recognized leader for lodging industry benchmarking and research. Smith Travel Research and STR Global offer monthly, weekly, and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 36,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 5 million rooms worldwide. STR is headquartered in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and STR Global is based in London. For more information, visit .

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