The beginning of the year was quite successful for hotels in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Jeddah. Thanks to shopping festivals all the three destinations managed to reach the growth in revenues and profits.
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, showed the growth of occupancy of 11.6% (75.5% in total). Revenue per available apartment (RevPAR) added 35.2% to US$164.04, and ARR (accounting rate of return) grew by 15.2% and estimated US$217.43. The level of profit is also very promising – GOPPAR has reached the level of US$115.35. This is 63.7% more than during the same period in 2011. One of the main reasons for such growth was Hayya Jeddah 2012 – a large Jeddah Shopping Festival. The event, which had been lasting almost a month, attracted as many as one million of visitors. January is a traditional time for spring break in the local schools, so many young visitors from the kingdom and outside it have been present at the event. The second popular travel destination in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, featured a substantial decline in performance. The occupancy fell down by 2% and estimated 61.5%. ARR fell by 7.6%, RevPAR was decreased by 10.5%, and GOPPAR - by 6.2%.
The UAE accommodations feel a lot better. Hotels in Dubai beat all other locations of the region. Occupancy increased by 4.5% to the level of 87.7%, and ARR was enhanced by 9.9% and reached US$327.4. In January Dubai hosted Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) for the 17th time. The month-long festival boosted the revenues of the local hotels, helping them to achieve RevPAR of US$287.25 (+15.8%). The increase of GOPPAR estimated 18%. DSF was visited reportedly by 3.9 million of people.
Hotels in Abu Dhabi show a significant increase in occupancy, but the level of ARR was decreased in January 2012. The growth of occupancy during the month estimated 10.3% and reached 74%. At the same time ARR fell down by US$164.23. A year ago ARR estimated US$188.01. Therefore, hotels in Abu Dhabi feature the 11th consequent month of decrease of this figure.