Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi hotels enjoyed good occupancy rates and high revenues in May 2017, whereas data showed that the same items in the UAE weren’t as good compared to the-year ago period, according to new data revealed by Ernst & Young (EY).

In Jeddah, occupancy rates jumped 80.2%, while the revenue per available room (RevPAR) stood at $247 in May. Meanwhile, in Madinah, occupancy rose 6.1% and the daily average room rate grew to $180 per day, resulting in a 12.2% improvement in RevPAR.

On a year-on-year basis, RevPAR in Makkah surged 90.5% in May on the back of doubling the average room rate to $275, while occupancy levels were seen at 41%, according to EY.

"Jeddah, Makkah, and Madinah are expected to continue this strong trend due to the holy month of Ramadan,” MENA head of transaction real estate at EY Yousef Wahbah said.

On the other hand, in the UAE, although occupancy levels were strong, particularly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, RevPAR fell.

The UAE capital registered a 73.5% RevPAR growth, while Dubai recorded 77.8%, EY's MENA Hotel Benchmark Survey Report showed.

Dubai’s daily room rate fell to $211 in May from $225 a year ago, resulting in RevPAR tumbling 11.6%, while Abu Dhabi’s daily average room cost retreated to $73 and RevPAR went down 20.3%.

“The majority of the MENA hospitality industry experienced a decrease in earnings during May as both lower occupancies and lower average room rates reduced overall revenue per average room," Wahbah added.

With the Eid Al-Fitr holiday beginning on 25 June, EY expects several touristic destinations across MENA to enjoy a strong performance in the last week of June, he added.