Dubai Hotels Surge Ahead As Doha Hotels Slow Down

Dubai’s four and five star hotels recorded strong growth among all key indicators in September, while hotels in Doha witnessed a slow down.

According to HotStats MENA chain hotels market review, Dubai hotels witnessed growth of 8.5 per cent in average room rate (ARR) which reached $235 last month. The rise in ARR coupled with a 3.1 per cent rise in occupancy drove up the revenue per available room (RevPAR) to $179.

Marginal increases in food and beverage revenues solidified a 10.3 per cent growth in total revenue per available room (TRevPar) to $338. The survey also revealed that the growth in top line performance also resulted in increases in bottom line results with gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) increasing 13.7 per cent to $98.

“Occupancy remained strong during the month at 76 per cent, helping drive year to date figures to 79.5 per cent,” said Peter Goddard, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting in Dubai.

“The strong demand has allowed hoteliers to be aggressive on average rates which rose 8.5 per cent in September and with the high season almost upon us, we project the continuation of strong growth for the remainder of 2013,” said Goddard.

However, occupancy and ARR have fallen among Doha’s hotels. As top line performance declined, RevPar fell by 2.1 per cent but a rise in food and beverage consumption drove a 1.7 per cent increase in TrevPAR to $396.

Lower department operating profits and higher payroll expenses impacted bottom line performance with GOPPAR reducing 1.5 per cent to $169 among Doha hotels. This is in line with the performance experienced throughout 2013, the report said.

“In the past two years Doha has witnessed a sudden influx of new hotels entering the market which put immense pressure on the performance of existing hotels, especially average rate,” said Goddard.