In May 2014, certain Middle Eastern destinations such as Egypt and Turkey remained on a negative trajectory, while others posted solid growth rates, as shown by the data collected by MKG Hospitality.
In May 2014, Moroccan hospitality results continued growth over last year: occupancy grew by more than 3 points, while average daily rates rose 4%, enabling Moroccan hotels to post a RevPAR up by 9%. This time, the city of Casablanca played the leading role. Average rates soared, notably during the Auto Expo Casablanca from 9 to 18 May 2014. Another big moment for Morocco was the “Festival Mawazine” with international music stars, beginning on May 30 in Rabat (also close to Casablanca). Occupancy rates on the first day of the event increased by 20.7 points, prices climbed more than 13% compared to averages. Moreover, hotel performances recorded in Marrakech followed the same trend but with lower results, and an occupancy rate up by 3.9 points and a slight rise in average daily rates (+1.9%).
Like Morocco and in spite of slightly lower occupancy rates in May (-0.5 point), Tunisia pursues a positive trend with higher prices (+5.9%) that allowed hoteliers to post a 4.9% increase in the RevPAR. The Tunisian capital hosted several major events such as the LABEXPO event and an international construction exhibition, held from 21 to 25 May 2014.
In Algeria, performances increased in May, unlike in April. This month, the RevPAR rose by 9.9% thanks to solid growth in occupancy (+5.5 points).
In Egypt, the situation is totally different. All cities post negative variations in their RevPAR. Results are down for the cities of Cairo and Alexandria (-9.5%), and tourist destinations such as Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh are following a steeper negative trend as they still suffer from a lack of international tourists.
Tourists who used to stay in Egyptian resorts at this time of the year switched to countries such as Morocco or Jordan, and hotels located in the Gulf of Aqaba. Hotel occupancy rates in Jordan improved by nearly 5 points, allowing hoteliers to improve their rates by nearly 5.3%. Amman, the capital city, also performed well: the RevPAR rose by 15.1%. In other countries of the Levant, the situation is different between the countries. Occupancy was down sharply in May in Turkey (-6.1 points). The opposite is true in Lebanon where occupancy increased by 2.8 points but prices fell by 6.1%.
Countries in the Arabian Peninsula generally posted positive performances in May. In Oman, occupancy went up by 9.1 points, an increase similar to that in the previous month. The city of Muscat welcomed various events, such as the Global Education for All Meeting (GEM) and MIJEX (Mascat International Jewelry Exhibition), which generated many room nights for hoteliers in the city. In Bahrain, and more specifically in the capital with the SEC401 event, results are up. In Kuwait, hotel performances post strong positive change over last year (+ 16.6% in RevPAR) thanks to the Kids World event and the Kuwait International Trade Fair. In Saudi Arabia, hotel performances are stable. This month Jeddah, with a good occupancy rate (82.3%) and rising average daily rates (+6.7%), improved its revenue per room by 3.3% compared to last year.
In the UAE, performances show slight improvement. All hoteliers in the Emirates, except in Abu Dhabi, posted a decrease in occupancy rates. The positive variation of the RevPAR has been driven by the rise in rates. Different events like the Middle East Show in Dubai, the Air Show and the Smart Data Summit took place in May.
