The Middle East and African (MEA) region has reported negative year-over-year results in the three major performance metrics of hotel occupancy, revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rate (ADR) in April, said a report.

When looking at the three Middle East/Africa subregions, Northern Africa posted the only increases for any of the three performance metrics when reported in US dollars, according to data compiled by STR Global, a leading source of global hotel data.

The MEA region reported a 0.4-per cent decrease in occupancy which fell to 66.2 per cent, a 4.6-per cent drop in ADR which hit $168.47 besides a five-per cent fall in revenue per available room ending at $111.45, it added.

In the GCC, Qatar's capital Doha was the only city to post a double-digit increase in ADR, up 12.3 per cent hitting $201.08. This was mainly because of an influx of visitor arrivals into Doha for the first quarter of 2015 related to GCC events in the market, it stated.

Meanwhile, Oman's capital Muscat registered the sharpest drop in ADR, down 14.4 per cent hitting $232.64, it added.

STR Global said the subregion had experienced an 11.4-per cent increase in occupancy which soared to 57.6 per cent besides a 10.2-per cent jump in RevPAR which hit $51.34. The ADR in Northern Africa, however, fell 1.1 per cent to $89.11 for the month.

Amongst the key countries in the region, Egypt experienced the highest increases in all three key performance measurements, it stated.

The occupancy in the country rose 16 per cent to 59.8 per cent; ADR grew 14.5 per cent to hit $80.46; and RevPAR increased 32.8 per cent to $48.14.

The capital Cairo reported the largest increase in occupancy, up 30.6 per cent to 53.2 per cent. It also recorded the largest rise in RevPAR, up 36.1 per cent to hit $55.21, it stated.

The global expert said the performance growth in Egypt was mainly due to low year-over-year comparables and the country’s continued economic recovery from the Arab Spring.

Mauritius also saw a double-digit increase in occupancy (+12.7 per cent to 71.3 per cent). However, its ADR plunged 24.6 per cent to $195.70 and its RevPAR too fell 15.1 per cent to hit $139.57.

Morocco reported the steepest declines in both ADR (down 27.4 per cent to $116.11) and RevPAR (down 27.6 per cent to $71.42).

A decrease in French visitors, due to economic unrest in France, led to the declines in hotel performance in Morocco, said the STR Global in its report.

Lagos (Nigeria) posted a 28.4 per cent drop, while Amman (Jordan) registered a 22.4 per cent fall thus experiencing the largest occupancy decreases in the region, the report added.-TradeArabia News Service