JEDDAH: Hotel occupancy rate in the Gulf region and some neighboring Arab countries recorded an increase month-on-month in October, Taameer Real Estate Investment said in its MENA hospitality report update in December. All the three metrics of the hotel industry observed growth in the MENA region in the month of October 2010. The performance of the industry was primarily driven by increase in average rates in the African sub-region and improvement in occupancy in the Northern Africa and Middle East sub-regions. During October 2010, the hotel occupancy in the MENA region stood at 67.2 percent, up 50 basis points compared to corresponding period the previous year. Year to date ADR and RevPAR stood at $218.0 and $122.5, a decrease of 1.6 percent and an increase of 0.5 percent respectively compared to the same period last year. ADR for the month of October 2010 grew 0.8 percent to $162.54, while RevPAR grew to $109.20, up 1.3 percent relative to the previous corresponding period. Saudi Arabia's occupancy rate added 13.2 percent with an average occupancy rising to 52.4 percent. The hotel occupancy in Kuwait for the month of October 2010 stood at 60.6 percent, up 6.1 percent compared to the same period last year. Average Daily Rate (ADR) and Revenue per available room (RevPAR) for the month of October 2010 increased by 3.8 percent and 15.3 percent respectively to reach $224.6 and $136.0 compared to the previous corresponding period. Abu Dhabi saw the largest drop in RevPAR and ADR in the entire MENA region. The city witnessed a RevPAR decline of 43.0 percent to $133.07 and ADR decreased 42.4 percent to $193.18 during October 2010 compared to same period the previous year. Hotel occupancy in Amman, Jordan recorded the highest increase in hotel occupancy for the month of October 2010 to reach 83.2 percent, an increase of 13.7 percent compared to the previous corresponding period. However, Beirut, Lebanon observed the largest fall in occupancy rate, declining by 19.9 percent to reach 67.4 percent for the month of October 2010, compared to the same period last year. Both Amman and Beirut recorded double digit increase in ADR in October 2010. ADR in Amman and Beirut increased by 12.4 percent and 11.1 percent respectively to reach $158.95 and $207.38 compared to October 2009 Amman recorded the only double digit RevPAR increase in the MENA region, a rise of 27.8 percent during the month of October 2010 to $132.25, compared to the previous corresponding period.
