RIYADH: In November, hotels within the Middle East recorded their highest occupancy ranges since February 2020, even though the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the travel and tourism sector.
In response to the November 2020 report by global hotel data analysis firm STR, the average hotel occupancy rate for the Middle East was 46.9 %, a drop of 34.4 % points compared to November 2019.
The average day by day rate (ADR) per room was $107.98, a year-on-year drop of 24.9 %, which means revenue per available room (RevPAR) was $50.63, a year-on-year decline of 50.7 %.
In Saudi Arabia, November’s average occupancy rate was 34.7 %, down 38.7 percentage points in comparison with the last yr.
ADR was actually up 5.2 % to SR498.11 ($132.83), however, RevPAR still slipped 35.5 % year-on-year to SR172.70
Each of the key performance indicators within the Kingdom was up slightly month-on-month in November, with ADR rising for the first time since April.
In Oman, average occupancy slumped 66 % to 24.1 %, whereas ADR was down 45.2 % to 33.81 Omani rials ($87.93) and RevPAR was down 81.4 % to 8.15 rials.
Despite the drop, the sultanate’s occupancy and RevPAR levels were at their highest ranges since March, however, the nation continues to be struggling to recover from the impact of worldwide travel restrictions because of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 continues to weigh upon the travel and tourism sector, with authorities and business bodies alike looking for a path towards a sustained recovery,” Colliers International, the global industrial real estate leader, mentioned in its Middle East and North Africa Hotel Forecasts, which focused on the first 10 months of the yr.
“Whereas restrictions on movement and worldwide travel have begun to ease, managed and constant growth would be the key to attain previous levels of demand.”
Colliers gave a breakdown of occupancy rates throughout Saudi Arabia’s main markets, averaging 50 % in Riyadh (down 18 percentage points in comparison with final yr), 37 % in Jeddah (down 37 percentage points), 21 % in Makkah (down 66 percentage points), 27 p.c in Madinah (down 57 percentage points) and 54 % in Alkhobar (down just 5 percentage points).
Looking to 2021, Colliers predicted that Riyadh will average 55 % occupancy, with Jeddah at 51 %, Makkah at 37 %, Madinah at 51,% and Alkhobar at 55 %.
