Saudi Arabia's hospitality sector was the top performer in the Mena region in May, with Jeddah recording the highest ADR of $351, resulting in the highest RevPAR of $259 for the month, a new report showed.

According to the latest EY Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey Report, Jeddah saw an increase in occupancy by 2.2 percentage points to 73.7 per cent in May 2018 from 71.5 per cent in May 2017. The city also enjoyed a significant growth in ADR by 19.5 per cent, up from $294 in May 2017 to $351 in May 2018. This led to an increase in RevPAR by 23.2 per cent, up from $210 in May of last year to $259 in May of this year.

"With Ramadan beginning in mid-May this year, Saudi Arabia benefitted from the large influx of pilgrims during the holy month. Over two million pilgrims were expected to have visited the holy city, resulting in increased KPIs across Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah, with declines only in Riyadh," said Yousef Wahbah, Mena Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction Sector Leader at EY, commenting on EY Report.

Makkah saw an increase in occupancy by 7.3 per cent points to 61.2 per cent in May 2018 from 53.9 per cent in May 2017. The city’s ADR increased by 41.3 per cent from $165 to $233, which resulted in a growth in RevPAR by 60.4 per cent from $89 in May 2017 to $143 in May 2018, both of which were the record highest increases across the region for the same period.

Madinah’s occupancy increased by 4.2 percentage points from 63.8 per cent in May 2017 to 68 per cent in May 2018. It’s ADR increased by 11 per cent from $178 to $198, resulting in an increase in RevPAR by 18.3 per cent, from $114 in May 2017 to $135 in May 2018.

In the UAE, Abu Dhabi enjoyed the highest increase in occupancy percentage points within the region with 8.9 percentage points, as well as the highest occupancy rate, which grew from 67.7 per cent in May 2017 to 76.6 per cent in May 2018. While the capital’s ADR decreased by 11.8 per cent from $101 in May 2017 to $89 in May 2018, the city maintained its RevPAR of $68 from last year.

Dubai’s hospitality market witnessed a dip across all KPIs as a result of the peak season of events and conferences coming to a close. Its occupancy declined by 16.4 per cent points from 77.3 per cent in May 2017 to 60.9 per cent in May 2018. ADR dropped by 0.7 per cent from $238 to $236, resulting in a decline in RevPAR by 21.7 per cent from $184 to $144 for the same period.

"The Mena hospitality market will continue to see a drop in KPIs during the summer season as business travel declines and conferences and events are at a minimum,” Wahbah added. - TradeArabia News Service