The FINANCIAL -- Deloitte, the business advisory firm, has confirmed that hotels in the Middle East achieved the highest occupancy, average room rates and revPAR globally in 2009.

Data prepared by STR Global, shows occupancy reached 61.3 percent for the year, while average room rates and revenue per available room (revPAR), stood at US$202 and US$124 respectively.

Alex Kyriakidis, Global Managing Partner of Tourism Hospitality & Leisure at Deloitte, commenting on the regional results, said: “Hoteliers in the Middle East continue to be global leaders achieving levels of revPAR that other regions could only dream about. RevPAR stands US$44 higher than Europe, the next best performing region. The amount of new room supply that entered the Middle East last year intensified drops in occupancy, and put downward pressure on average room rates. However, the first signs of recovery are on the horizon, with drops in demand decelerating since September with less severe decline than in the Americas. The region now only lags behind Asia Pacific and Europe in terms of the recovery of demand.”

Beirut

Some cities in the Middle East achieved revPAR growth through the downturn, with Beirut reporting the strongest increases in the region and the world for the second consecutive year. RevPAR was up 62.1 percent, as hotels performed better in 2009 than they ever have, with average room rates pushing past the US$200 mark to US$205 while achieving 70.9 percent occupancy. Robert O’Hanlon, the Partner for Travel Hospitality & Leisure at Deloitte Middle East emphasized that “in Beirut in 2008 and 2009 we saw a clear demonstration of the value that is created when a world class leisure and business destination is combined with peace and stability”.

Jeddah & Amman

Other cities that experienced revPAR growth included Jeddah, which also achieved the strongest occupancy in the Middle East at 71.1 percent giving hoteliers an opportunity to grow average room rates 11.4 percent. Meanwhile in Amman, average room rates grew by 12.1 percent to US$147 resulting in revPAR growth of 2.8 percent.

Abu Dhabi & Dubai

Abu Dhabi achieved the highest average room rates and revPAR in the region at US$285 and US$201 respectively. RevPAR fell only 11.8 percent while average room rates grew 1.4 percent. Dubai still achieves the region’s second highest revPAR at US$163 but experienced the largest revPAR drop, down 31.4 percent.

Alex Kyriakidis continued, “This drop in hotel performance represents an adjustment rather than a crash. Over the past few years, hotels in Dubai experienced fast and strong growth due to a supply shortage combined with increased interest in tourism in the burgeoning city. Now that supply is balancing with demand, it is only natural that hotel performance is experiencing an adjustment. Although the timing of the global economic crises exacerbated the decline last year, hotels in Dubai and across the UAE still achieved some of the strongest average room rates and revPAR globally.”

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