A mixed bag for hotel performance in the Middle East

According to new data from, from STR, hotels in the Middle East reported mixed January 2020 performance results, while hotels in Africa posted positive results across the three key performance metrics.

US dollar constant currency, January 2020 vs. January 2019

Middle East

• Occupancy: +8.1% to 73.3%
• Average daily rate (ADR): -2.6% to US$148.57
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +5.3% to US$108.90

Africa

• Occupancy: +2.4% to 54.7%
• Average daily rate (ADR): +3.2% to USD119.59
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +5.7% to USD65.41

Local currency, January 2020 vs. January 2019

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

• Occupancy: +31.8% to 63.5%
• Average daily rate (ADR): -9.4% to SAR600.15
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +19.4% to SAR381.38

The absolute occupancy level was the highest for a January in Jeddah since 2016, while the ADR level was the lowest for a January since 2008. STR analysts attribute the year-over-year spike in occupancy to the midyear school break (2-18 January), which was celebrated in December during the last academic year.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

• Occupancy: -16.4% to 33.5%
• Average daily rate (ADR): -1.9% to TZS246,861.40
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -18.1% to TZS82,661.18

The absolute occupancy level was the lowest for any month in STR’s Dar Es Salaam database. STR analysts note the role of supply growth (+9.7%) in the low occupancy in addition to a drop in demand (-8.3%).