Hotels in the Middle East are performing better than those in all other regions of the world according to Philip Wooller, area director Middle East & Africa, STR, who spoke at the GM Leaders Conference on 3 May.
In 2016, the Middle East had 66.2% average occupancy, an average room rate of $174.6 and RevPar of $115.6.
Wooller commented: “If we look at occupancies, I like to compare the US (61%), Europe (63%), Asia-Pacific (68%), which have much, much lower average room rates.
“So, despite some of the challenging times we’ve seen in the region in the past two years, it is still performing at a much higher level than all the other regions.”
Wooller said that across the world, the industry is showing improving profitability in general and RevPar is “in positive territory,” but the Middle East is performing best in this area.
“RevPar for 2016 shows that the Middle East is performing at a much higher level. Asia-Pacific is operating at around $105, the US at $119 and the Middle East at $177.”
Wooller added that January, February and March of 2017 have shown a positive pattern when it comes to the supply-demand gap for the region, suggesting the market is recovering.
“When we look at January, February and March, you can see some positive spikes and the data is suggesting things have improved in the past three months,” said Wooller.
“Supply is up 5.1% and that’s year-to-date and demand is up 7.3% – that’s a really important number. Demand is outstripping supply.”
Wooller closed his session with some interesting statistics about Dubai.
He commented: “Dubai in terms of area is 117th in the world, in terms of population 104th, it’s the fourth most visited city on the planet and in terms of international visitor spend, it is number one, which is AED113 billion, 31% of which is spent on accommodation.
