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STR: Middle East and Africa hotel performance for May 2019

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Key May Takeaways:

  • Makkah hotel performance soars during Ramadan
  • Abu Dhabi performance affected by supply growth, Ramadan calendar shift

STR’s sample comprises more than 65,000 hotels and 8.8 million hotel rooms around the globe. Contact media@str.com for additional market data.

26 June 2019

LONDON—Hotels in the Middle East reported mixed May 2019 performance results, while hotels in Africa posted declines across the three key performance metrics, according to data from STR.

U.S. dollar constant currency, May 2019 vs. May 2018

Middle East

  • Occupancy: -8.6% to 52.0%
  • Average daily rate (ADR): +8.9% to US$164.87
  • Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -0.4% to US$85.75

Africa

  • Occupancy: -5.6% to 51.2%
  • Average daily rate (ADR): -0.4% to US$99.30
  • Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -5.9% to US$50.82

Local currency, May 2019 vs. May 2018

Makkah

  • Occupancy: +30.5% to 77.2%
  • ADR: +67.6% to SAR1,446.79
  • RevPAR: +118.7% to SAR1,116.61

The absolute values in each of the three key performance metrics were the highest for any May in STR’s Makkah database. STR analysts note that performance in the holy city was helped by Ramadan, as the number Umrah pilgrims continues to rise. Year-over-year comparisons were boosted even further by a favorable calendar shift—more Ramadan dates fell in May of this year than May 2018.

Abu Dhabi

  • Occupancy: -14.9% to 52.2%
  • ADR: -4.4% to AED335.39
  • RevPAR: -18.6% to AED175.10

STR analysts attribute the performance declines to supply growth and the negative side of the Ramadan calendar shift. The market sees less business during the holy month, and while a majority of hotels ran special Ramadan offers to help stimulate demand, the number of rooms sold in the market fell 10.3% year over year. Supply, however, jumped 5.3%.

A note to editors: All references to STR data and analysis should cite “STR” as the source. Please refrain from citing “STR, Inc.” “Smith Travel Research” or “STR Global” in sourcing.  

About STR
STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors. 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. For more information, please visit str.com.

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