DUBAI - Hotel revenue and occupancy continued their downward spiral in the Middle East during September, but the rate of decline slowed as hotels benefited from the early start of Ramadan, STR Global said on Tuesday.The hospitality research firm said revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key measure of hotel performance, fell 6.9 percent to $80, compared the year-earlier period, while occupancy rates dropped 8.2 percent to 56.9 percent.
“September showed the lowest monthly RevPAR decline for the region since December 2008 ... However, whilst we have seen declines in RevPAR stabilise in recent months, the earlier start of Ramadan in mid-August this year benefited this month’s results,” Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global, said in a statement.
The global economic crisis has hit the hospitality industry hard, with people postponing discretionary travel in hard times and businesses cutting on travel to save costs.
The falls in September follow declines in previous months, with the summer particularly slow for hotels in the Gulf due to the searing temperatures.
September’s decline was led by Saudi Arabia, which saw RevPAR slump 33 percent and occupancy fall 27.8 percent to 47.1 percent, STR said.
Saudi Arabia has been hit by a double whammy of the global downturn in the travel industry and the swine flu pandemic.
The kingdom usually receiving millions of Muslim pilgrims between late August and December for the annual Umrah and Haj pilgrimages, but this year many have stayed away over fears of a swine flu outbreak.
UAE hotels witnessed RevPAR slide 12.2 percent during the month, but occupancy declined only 4.3 percent to 58.1 percent, STR said.
Egypt, meanwhile, saw RevPAR jump 12.2 percent and occupancy dip just 1 percent, according to STR.
The Egyptian capital Cairo performed particularly well with RevPAR, occupancy and average daily rates rising, as did Beirut, also posting increased in all three metrics, STR said.