Muscat hotels among top in occupancy rate in MENA

Muscat: Hotels in Muscat had the second-best occupancy rates among the cities of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in October, said a report.
Muscat’s hotels also had the second-best revenue per available room (revpar) for October in the region. The findings were revealed in the October 2017 MENA Hotel Benchmark Survey Report.
The survey revealed that the hotels had an occupancy rate of 86.4 per cent, while Abu Dhabi topped the list with 86.7 per cent occupancy. Dubai finished third with an occupancy rate of 79.6 per cent.
As far as revpar is concerned, hotels in Muscat finished second, making $153 per room. Dubai had the best revpar of $215. Ras Al Khaimah was third on the list and Abu Dhabi finished fourth, with revpars of $135 and $111, respectively.
“It is great to hear that Muscat has been ranked second in occupancy rates and that Oman has performed well. Our hotels at Ras al Jinz Turtle Reserve Centre and Masirah Island Resort did extremely well and had more than 80 per cent occupancy levels in October, which is great. In fact, Oman starts getting tourists from October that continues until April,” said Vijay Handa, cluster general manager, Ras al Jinz Turtle Reserve Centre and Masirah Island Resort.
Another hotelier said: “Muscat’s performance has been good, because Oman is a destination where tourists mix pleasure with business. It is value for money in a way that the country has its high and low seasons; not to mention the unpredictable weather.
“Most of the hotels in Muscat offer a lot of facilities, good service and hospitality, which the guest remembers and thus prefers to come back. I can say that it is the quality and value for money.”
Yousef Wahbah, MENA real estate, hospitality and construction sector leader at Ernst & Young (EY), noted that the increased occupancy rates of hotels in the region could be partly attributed to a favourable climate.
“The MENA hospitality market is expected to see improvements in a few cities over the next few months due to annual exhibitions, events and festivals,” he remarked.
Wahbah revealed that Lebanon’s capital Beirut had improved its occupancy rate more than any other city in the region. “Beirut had the highest increase in occupancy with 13.5 per cent points, when compared to the same period last year. This may be attributed to the lifting of travel bans.”
He pointed out that Doha experienced the worst dip in the region as far as the hospitality sector was concerned. “Doha’s hospitality market witnessed the lowest performance across all key performance indicators (KPIs) in the Middle East in October 2017, when compared to the same period last year. The internationally branded four- and five-star hotels witnessed a drop in occupancy by 11.1 per cent points in October 2017, when compared to October 2016.”