Skift Take
It's good news all around this year for Dubai. But how does it tell the difference between bubble and natural growth -- and does it really care?
Hotel operators in Dubai and Jeddah have posted healthy full-year increases in room rates and revenues for 2012, according to latest data released by STR Global.
Both Gulf cities reported double digit rises in revenue per available room (RevPAR) for the year while they also posted the biggest increases in average daily rates (ADR) in the Middle East and Africa region.
STR Global data showed that hotels in Jeddah saw an ADR rise of nine percent in 2012 to more than $221 while Dubai’s ADR increased 7.9 percent to nearly $235.
The cities were two of four markets in the region to achieve double-digit RevPAR growth.
Jeddah’s RevPAR jumped nearly 20 percent over the year to $176 while Dubai saw RevPAR growth of 11.4 percent to more than $181. Amman (up 20.9 percent to $99.39) and Cairo (up 13.7 percent to $47.35) were the other strong RevPAR performers.
Country-wide, hotels in the UAE saw occupancy rates rise two percent to 72.5 percent while ADR rose 4.3 percent and RevPAR increased 6.4 percent.
In Saudi Arabia, hotel occupancy rates rose to 62.1 percent, up 7.3 percent on 2011, while ADR rose 3.5 percent and RevPAR grew by 11.1 percent.
The Middle East/Africa region reported a 6.1 percent increase in occupancy to 60.3 percent, a 0.5 percent decrease in ADR to $161.64 and a 5.6 percent increase in RevPAR to $97.54.
“The Middle East had a good year achieving its third highest RevPAR of $131.48 within the last eight years,” said Elizabeth Randall Winkle, managing director of STR Global.
“The region remained popular with developers and guests growing 6.3 percent in room inventory and 10.2 percent in demand.”
She added that Northern Africa experienced a bounce back in occupancy with a 16.8 percent increase to 52 percent.
Cairo, Egypt, jumped 24.5 percent in occupancy to 45.6 percent, reporting the largest increase in that metric, followed by Amman, Jordan (up 15.1 percent to 65 percent), and Muscat, Oman (up 14.3 percent to 59.6 percent).
© 2012 ITP Business Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company. 
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Photo credit: Travellers are seen at the Emirates terminal at Dubai International Airport, January 7, 2013. Jumana El Heloueh / Reuters