Middle East hotels fail to match Africa's record performance growth

Hotels in the Middle East reported negative performance results in second-quarter 2018 while hotels in Africa posted growth across the three key performance metrics, according to data from STR.

Occupancy in the Middle East's hotels dropped 3.5 percent to 60.2 percent as ADR fell 5.8 percent to $159.13. RevPAR fell 9.1 percent to 95.73 in response to these declines. 

However, occupancy in Africa grew 5.1 percent to 56.3 percent compared to occupancy in the Middle East's hotels. ADR grew 6.6 percent to $113.71, causing RevPAR to surge 12 percent to $63.97. 

Morocco 

Morocco saw minor declines in occupancy by 1.4 percent to 56.8 percent, while ADR and RevPAR both surged during Q2. ADR rose 24.1 percent to MAD1,305.26 while RevPAR grew 22.4 percent to MAD741.37. 

Multiple events that stimulated the tourism economy in Morocco, along with the traditional boost in demand (room nights sold) that occurs after Ramadan, also drove the strong growth in ADR and RevPAR. The 22.4-percent jump in RevPAR was especially notable given that RevPAR increased 15.7 percent during second-quarter 2017.

Kuwait 

Like most countries in the region, Kuwait received a lift in demand during Eid al-Fitr; however. the country’s absolute RevPAR levels have remained low since the drop in oil prices and subsequent lower occupancy levels. 

Occupancy fell 0.9 percent to 52.7 percent in the past quarter. ADR dropped 1.6 percent to KWD63.29, driving a 2.5-percent decline in RevPAR to KWD33.36. 

Nigeria 

Nigeria’s hotel performance improved alongside oil output during second-quarter 2018. The 49.4-percent occupancy, which rose 10.9 percent from the levels recorded in the same period in 2017, was the highest for a second quarter in the country since 2014. 

ADR also saw a positive increase, rising 9.9 percent to NGN52,094.78, while RevPAR surged 21.9 percent to NGN25,727.02.