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 2.1 percentage-point annual increase in the average occupancy rate in Beirut’s hospitality sector to 36.8% during the month of January 2023. The average room rate dropped by 27.7% y-o-y to $50 in January, with the revenue per available room (RevPAR) contracting by 23.3% to $18.

The following chart captures the monthly evolution in the occupancy rate in Beirut’s 4 and 5 star hotels over the January 2022 – January 2023 period:

On a regional basis, Beirut recorded the lowest average occupancy rate among the nine covered Middle Eastern capitals during the month of January 2023. Abu Dhabi outperformed its regional peers, enjoying the highest average occupancy rate of 79.9%, followed closely by Riyadh (76.0%) and Cairo City (71.9%). Beirut’s 4 and 5 star hotels also charged the lowest average room rate of $50 when priced at the fresh Dollar rate to reflect the sizeable devaluation of the Lebanese Pound against the US Dollar. Riyadh, on the other hand, recorded the highest average room rate of $212, followed by Kuwait City ($195) and Manama ($151), only to name a few.