Showing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels in the Middle East and Africa reported steep declines across the three key performance metrics in March 2020, according to data from STR.

U.S. dollar constant currency, March 2020 vs. March 2019

Middle East

  • Occupancy: -51.5% to 35.6%
  • Average daily rate (ADR): -19.3% to US$114.88
  • Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -60.8% to US$40.86

Africa

  • Occupancy: -51.6% to 31.1%
  • ADR: -6.4% to US$102.09
  • RevPAR: -54.7% to US$31.72

Both the Middle East and Africa saw their lowest absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels for any month on record.

U.S. dollar constant currency, March 2020 vs. March 2019

United Arab Emirates

  • Occupancy: -49.2% to 41.4%
  • ADR: -27.6% to AED411.92
  • RevPAR: -63.2% to AED170.57

The absolute occupancy level was the lowest for any month in STR's United Arab Emirates database. Key markets in the country, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, recorded steep declines in occupancy, -35.6% and -54.7%, respectively.

South Africa

  • Occupancy: -45.1% to 37.0%
  • ADR: -4.4% to ZAR1,264.83
  • RevPAR: -47.5% to ZAR468.02

The absolute occupancy level was the lowest for any month in STR's South Africa database. At the market-level, Cape Town experienced a drop in occupancy of 46.5%

Additional COVID-19 analysis
STR continues to monitor the COVID-19 impact on global hotel performance. More information, such as full analysis pieces and webinar recordings, can be found here.

About STR

STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. For more information, please visit str.com and costargroup.com.