Dubai Hotels See 87.1% Occupancy In October

Hotels in Dubai posted an Average Room Rate (ARR) of $347.25 in October 2012, up 7.5 per cent from the previous year, according to the latest HotStats survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Average occupancy in Dubai’s four and five star hotels reached 87.1 per cent for the month, up 5.7 percentage points from last year, while Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) rose 15 per cent to $302.31, the survey found.

Gross Operating Profit per Available Room (GOPPAR) increased 20 per cent to $258.58, mainly driven by a 13.9 per cent growth in Total Revenue per Available Room (TRevPAR) to $508.72 and a drop on overheads.

“Dubai hotels thrived as nearly half a million visitors flowed in to the city to celebrate Eid al Adha holidays,” said Rashid Aboobacker, senior consultant at TRI Hospitality Consulting in Dubai.

“The administration’s efforts to attract a million visitors to the city over the 10-day period was supported by the re-launch of the ‘Eid in Dubai’ shopping festival which saw malls open 24 hours to serve shoppers.

“The festivities were complemented by a number of major conferences and exhibitions hosted in the city such as the Gitex, World Energy Forum and CityScape, all of which attract large international audience,” he said.

However, neighbouring Abu Dhabi saw a drop in hotel performance indicators as occupancy fell 5.6 percentage point to 75.5 per cent and ARR decreased 11.4 per cent to $145.06 against the same period last year.

RevPAR was also down by 17.5 per cent to $109.47, TRevPAR fell 17 per cent to $231.55, and GOPPAR declined by 26.7 per cent to $94.08, said the survey.

“The performance of Abu Dhabi hotels were discouraging as despite healthy occupancy levels, average rates have continued to drop indicating a need for hotels to strategise beyond rate reduction to capture and retain business,” added Aboobacker.