STR Global published data on Wednesday showing Abu Dhabi suffered substantial drops in hotel revenue and occupancy rates in January 2010, compared to January 2009. Figures show that RevPar in the capital dropped 40 percent, occupancy rates fell 27 percent, and average daily rates (ADR) declined 18 percent.
While the Middle East still has the second highest revenue per available room (RevPar) of all the world’s sub regions at $120, it is also one of two regions still reporting declines in RevPar. STR Global said the Middle East/Africa region reported declines in all three key measurements in January, with the region’s occupancy rate falling 2.3 percent to 54.8 percent, ADR fell 1.9 percent to $170.20 and RevPar declined 4.1 percent to $93.23. Elizabeth Randall, Managing Director at STR Global, said “It is good to see the decline is getting smaller, from -7 percent in December to -4 percent for January compared to the prior year.”