UAE hotels see revenue, room rate declines in January

Hotels in the UAE saw revenue and room rates drop during January but occupancy levels were boosted by strong performance in the smaller emirates of Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah, according to latest data from analysts STR.

Average daily rates (ADR) across the UAE hospitality market fell by 8 percent last month to AED711.80 while revenue per available room (RevPAR) decreased by 7.5 percent to AED577.09, STR said.

Demand (up 5.8 percent) outpaced supply (5.3 percent), leading to moderate occupancy growth of 0.5 percent to 81.1 percent.

Most of the occupancy growth for January occurred in smaller markets like Fujairah (up 7.2 percent), Ras Al Khaimah (up 10.1 percent) and Sharjah (up 5.5 percent).

STR said Abu Dhabi reported a 1.5 percent decline, and Dubai posted nearly flat performance.

Jumeirah Palm and beaches, a submarket within Dubai, posted the highest occupancy growth (up 5.8 percent), although ADR declined marginally by 0.2 percdent). As a result of strong supply growth, especially in the midscale segment, ADR declined across most emirates markets in January.

Regionally, occupancy across hotels operating in the Middle East declined by 2.7 percent to 68.4 percent while ADR fell 8.4 percent to $177.81 and RevPAR slumped by 11 percent to $121.62, STR added.