The Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah recorded the highest hotel occupancy rate in September, leading the Mena region at 84 per cent, followed by Madinah (Saudi Arabia) at 72 per cent and Dubai (UAE) at 68 per cent.

The surge in occupancy rates can be attributed to the pilgrims who visit Saudi Arabia during haj as reports showed visitor numbers to Jeddah and Madinah increase before and after haj, said the EY ME Hotel Benchmark Survey Report for September 2015.

Moreover, hospitality markets in Makkah (Saudi Arabia), Ras Al Khaimah (UAE) and Manama (Bahrain) witnessed a positive increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR) compared to the same period last year.

Makkah’s hospitality market witnessed the highest change in RevPAR (+83.2 per cent) compared to September 2014 as well as a 28.8 per cent increase in room rate mainly due to pilgrims arriving in the city to perform Haj. Occupancy increased from 50 per cent in September 2014 to 72 per cent in September 2015 in the holy city.

Ras Al Khaimah’s hospitality market witnessed a double digit increase in RevPAR of 55.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. This was mainly due to the increase in average daily rate (ADR) from $98 in September 2014 to $141 in September 2015. Occupancy also increased from 58.3 per cent in September 2014 to 63 per cent in September this year.

Manama’s hospitality market also witnessed an increase in RevPAR from $110 in September 2014 to $125 in September 2015. This was mainly due to the increase in average occupancy by 9 per cent in September 2015 when compared to the same time last year. The increase in rooms yield may be ascribed to several conferences that were held in September such the Middle East Process Engineering Conference and the Middle East Non Destructive Testing Conference.

Kuwait and Riyadh’s hospitality market performance, however, dropped when compared to September last year. RevPAR dropped in Kuwait from $130 in September 2014 to $91 in September 2015, mainly due to the decrease in occupancy by 14 per cent in September when compared to the same period last year.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s hospitality markets also witnessed a drop in RevPAR performance when compared to September 2014. The slowdown of growth in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s hospitality sector may primarily be attributed to the decline in tourists from Europe (as a result of economic slowdown in the Eurozone and weakening of the Euro) and an increase in the supply of hotel rooms. – TradeArabia News Service