According to hoteliers and market experts, this year’s Ramadan hotel stats featured a slight drop in occupancy. While corporate segment was significantly less active during Ramadan and featured the decline of 30%, leisure tourists were more active. The occupancy featured just a small drop almost at the same level with figures of 2011.
This year the holy month of Ramadan falls to midsummer period. As Peter Goddard, the managing director of TRI Hospitality, mentions, the fall of corporate activity during Ramadan is fully understandable. The majority of food and beverage outlets do not work, and people usually stick to their homes, so they are less likely to stay in hotels. There may be a significant growth of activity after the Eid holidays.
According to experts, such a fall has been predicted. The hotel industry of the UAE traditionally features weakened results during Ramadan. At the same time holidaymakers continue selecting the country as their rest destination.
What about the most popular hotel chains in the UAE? Rotana Hotels reports a drop of 10% in occupancy during Ramadan period. They considered this fact a good achievement since the average occupancy was around 70 per cent. In order to cope with the expected fall in occupancy, the company made its rates about 10% lower. Hilton says they are satisfied with their stats, mostly thanks to a well-developed distribution system that works not only in the Middle East, but also in Europe, Africa and Russia. This time Hilton hotels in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah were particularly popular among tourists from the US, UK, and Germany. Kempinski hotels are confident in their results. According to the company’s spokesman, the UAE has always been a strong market and so regional issues cannot have serious impact on performance of hotels.