Hotels in the Middle East reported mixed performance results for July, while hotels in Africa saw increases across the three key performance metrics, according to the latest data from STR.
In the Middle East, hotel occupancy was up 3 percent to 60.8 percent year over year, but average daily rate dropped 5 percent to $119.26 and revenue per available room fell 2.1 percent to $72.51. Hotels in Africa saw occupancy improve 1 percent to 62.6 percent, while ADR grew 4.8 percent to $106.94 and RevPAR was up 5.8 percent to $66.99.
Egypt's hospitality sector has continued to rebound, with increases in both rates and revenue. Hotels in Sharm El Sheikh reported occupancy growth of 3.8 percent to 66.3 percent; however, ADR jumped 23.9 percent to EGP1,318.95 and RevPAR increased 28.6 percent to EGP874.87.
STR's analysts noted the absolute ADR and RevPAR levels were the highest for any July in STR’s Sharm El Sheikh database. RevPAR has grown for 33 consecutive months in the market as supply has remained relatively flat since early 2016, they said, but demand has grown by double digits for 24 of the last 26 months. As noted earlier this month, Egypt has 48,000 new hotel rooms slated to open in 2022 and occupancy at Red Sea hotels and resorts, including those in Sharm El Sheikh, is likely to surpass 85 percent. Currently, Egypt has 4,100 hotel rooms under construction.
In Africa, Lagos, Nigeria, was a somewhat different story. Occupancy improved 16.2 percent to 65.7 percent, but ADR declined 5 percent to NGN47,077.51 year over year. Hotels in Lagos, the country's largest city, however, still posted RevPAR growth of 10.5 percent to NGN30,915.51.
The absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were the highest ever recorded for a July in STR’s Lagos database, according to the company; however, July marked the sixth consecutive month of ADR declines for the market. Occupancy, and subsequently RevPAR, were helped by a double-digit rise in demand (up 17 percent) and mostly flat supply (up 0.7 percent), noted STR.