Konstanze Auernheimer, Director of Marketing for STR Global, said the Gulf’s hospitality sector should improve in the second half of the year if the economy stays on its current path. He said there will probably be declines in all form factors in the region, because the spending power of tourists has been reduced due to the economic slowdown. STR Global data shows that there was a fall in all three key indicators in the Gulf’s hospitality sector, year-on-year, in November 2009. However, compared to the prior three months, there are signs of improvement.
Qatar had the biggest drop in these three indicators – occupancy rate, average daily rate (ADR) and average revenue per available room (RevPar). Qatar’s occupancy rate dropped 23.3 percent to 67.3 percent in November 2009, compared to 87.8 percent in November 2008. Saudi Arabia was the only market to show a rise in all three indicators, because of Haj. Saudi occupancy rates increased 3.1 percent to 62.7 percent in November 2009, compared to 60.8 percent in November 2008.
