Cairo hotels reported an increase of 95.4 per cent in occupancy to 55.3 per cent during October, marking the largest year-over-year growth in the Middle East and Africa region, a report said.

The region reported a 7.2 per cent increase in occupancy to 67.6 per cent, a 2.4 per cent decrease in average daily rate (ADR) to $182.34 and a 4.6 per cent increase in revenue per available room to $123.19, added the latest report from STR Global, a leading source of global hotel data.

“The region was a mixed picture in October”, said Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global.

“It was only the second month all year the region reported a decrease in average daily rate. But, because of the 7.2-per cent occupancy growth driven by countries such as Egypt and Lebanon, October still ended with positive revenue-per-available-room (RevPAR) growth of 4.6 per cent.

“South Africa created the largest drag on ADR in US dollar terms (-4.7 per cent). However, when viewed in local currency, the country’s ADR actually grew at a rate of 5.3 per cent during October,” she added.

Highlights among the Middle East/Africa region’s key markets for October:

•    Lagos, Nigeria, fell 8.7 per cent in occupancy to 46.9 per cent, posting the largest decrease in that metric.

•    Cairo (+16.7 per cent to $116.24) and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (+12.5 per cent to $270.58), achieved the largest ADR increases.

•    Abu Dhabi, UAE, reported the largest ADR decrease, down 9.2 per cent to $154.75.

•    Cairo experienced the largest RevPAR growth, increasing 128 per cent to $64.25.

•    Lagos reported the only double-digit RevPAR decrease, falling 14.1 per cent to $116.71.

Performances of key countries in October

Egypt registered an occupancy of 60.8 per cent, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 72.6 per cent, with the ADR climbing to EGP638.45 ($88.8), while RevPAR grew 134.2 per cent to EGP388 ($54).

Saudi Arabia saw an occupancy of 60.2 per cent, a year-over-year decrease of 4.5 per cent, with the ADR dropping to SR998.8 ($266), while RevPAR fell 7.5 per cent to SR600.86 ($160).

UAE saw an occupancy of 79.2 per cent, a year-over-year decrease of 1.1 per cent, with the ADR dropping 2.7 per cent to Dh858.61 ($234), while RevPAR fell 3.7 per cent to Dh680.38 ($185). – TradeArabia News Service