Ernst & Young (EY) published its “Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey Report” on the performance of 4 and 5 star hotels in the Middle East region, conveying a 33.5 percentage-point annual drop in the average occupancy rate in Beirut’s hospitality sector to 43% during the month of September 2020. This comes on the back of the strained local political and economic conditions and the lockdown that was imposed to tame the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the average room rate increased by 46.0% y-o-y to $157 in September, while the average room yield plunged by 17.5% to $68.

The following chart captures the monthly evolution in the occupancy rate in Beirut’s 4 and 5 star hotels over the September 2019 – September 2020 period:

On a regional basis, Beirut recorded the lowest average occupancy rate of 15% among the nine covered Middle Eastern capitals during the first nine months of the year 2020, with Abu Dhabi outperforming its regional peers, recording the highest average occupancy rate of 71%, followed by Doha (56%) and Riyadh (51%). Beirut’s 4 and 5 star hotels charged the second highest average room rate of $159, noting that Kuwait City recorded the highest average room rate of $200, with Riyadh coming in third with an average room rate of $144.