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 10.4 percentage-point annual decrease in the average occupancy rate in Beirut’s hospitality sector to 53.6% during the month of August 2023. Conversely, the average room rate more than doubled to read $200.0 As a result, the revenue per available room (RevPAR), which is the product of the occupancy and average room rate, rose by 92.8% y-o-y to $107.0. The drop in occupancy rate despite the increase in overall tourism activity can be attributed to the emergence of cheaper lodging such as AirbBnb and guesthouses.

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

On a regional basis, Beirut recorded the lowest average occupancy rate (46.3%) in the hospitality sector among the nine covered Middle Eastern capitals during the first eight months of 2023. Abu Dhabi, on the other hand, outperformed its regional peers, enjoying the highest average occupancy rate of 77.7%, followed by Cairo City (70.0%) and Riyadh (61.7%). Beirut’s 4 and 5 star hotels charged the fifth lowest average room rate of $144, outperforming each of Abu Dhabi ($95), Doha ($110), Muscat ($124) and Cairo ($141). Riyadh, on the other hand, recorded the highest average room rate of $184, followed by Kuwait City ($171) and Manama ($155), only to name a few.