Hospitality and tourism operators in the Middle East will be delighted to know that the World Tourism Organization's "Tourism 2020 Vision" estimates that international travel to the Middle East will grow at a significantly faster rate than other competing global destinations.
The WTO suggests that in the year 2020, Middle Eastern destinations will receive 68.5 million arrivals (vs. 46.4M in 2007), representing a growth rate of 7.1 percent over the period 1995-2019. The global average for the same year is expected to be 4.1 percent. This is certainly good news for tourism operators in a region marked by incredible growth in the hotel industry, with no immediate signs of abatement.
While the current growth in hotel supply in the Middle East is built on a promise for the future, current hotel industry results in financial performance indicate that the region is on the right track.
ArabianBusiness.com magazine published some impressive Q1 hotel industry statistics yesterday for 2008, confirming the Middle Eastern region's position as the current world's top performer in average rate and occupancy.
The study, compiled by industry analysts at Deloitte, reveal a chart-topping average rate of $181 USD, and an overall occupancy of 74.3 percent. Absolute RevPAR (revenue per available room) in the region for Q1 grew 19 percent year over year.
Looking ahead, Rob O'Hanlon, Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Partner for Deloitte Middle East said: "With the strongest occupancy and average room rates in the world, hotel performance in the Middle East is off to a very good start in 2008. If the rest of 2008 follows the pattern already set for the first quarter, hoteliers could enjoy a remarkable five-year run of double-digit growth."
Naturally these results are averaged over a number of distinct and varied hotel markets in the region, with some areas performing significantly better than others. According to Deloitte, the hotel industry in the Middle East has been characterised by two distinct overall segments in 2008:
One segment has shown strong absolute RevPAR and growth in average room rates with a decrease in occupancy due to the influx of new supply. Obvious examples of this market segment include Dubai and Doha.
A second segment in the Middle East is achieving a much lower absolute RevPAR but is experiencing high RevPAR growth, driven by increases in both occupancy and average room rates. Amman and destinations in Egypt are examples of this segment.
Hospitality consultancy HVS International released a fresh study titled Middle East Hotel Survey 2008 (PDF), which offers a gold-mine of interesting statistics about the regional hotel trade.
According to HVS, approximately 253 hotels will be entering the market in the next fours years, adding an additional 120,000 guestrooms to current supply—not including the massive but unconfirmed "Dubailand" project in the UAE.
"The UAE accounts for nearly 75% of the new supply, followed by Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Approximately 25,000 rooms are set to enter the Dubai market in 2008, 20,000 in 2009, 25,000 in 2010 and 20,000 in 2011.
The most active operators in the region in terms of brand expansion are Accor, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, Rotana Hotels, and Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts."
Egypt Hotel Stats—Since our blog HQ is in Cairo, I wanted to share a few local stats compiled by HVS for 2007: Last year, many markets in Egypt saw occupancy rise by ten percentage points or more. A notable exception was Cairo (City Centre), which saw an increase in guestroom supply. Sharm El Sheikh recorded a rise in occupancy of ten points, Hurghada 11, and Cairo (Heliopolis) 12 points in 2007.
Both Cairo (City Centre) and Cairo (Heliopolis) increased their average rates significantly, by 38 percent and 39 percent respectively over last year (I still think that Cairo is currently undervalued in average rate compared to other destinations!).
And the best news for local hotel owners? Cairo (Pyramids) and Cairo (Heliopolis) experienced growth of 52 percent and 45 percent respectively in GOPPAR (gross operating profit per available room), and Cairo (City Centre) grew their GOPPAR by 14% year over year.
Chris Clarke - Vacant Ready Host ~ Chris worked in hotel management for 10 years until he become a hotel blogging zealot 
while teaching hospitality management at a local college. Now he works full time developing hospitality social media.
Chris loves to find unique and entertaining angles in his hotel stories. A consummate hotel professional, he prefers to blog in his hotel robe and slippers (not stolen or course). www.vacantready.com 
