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 6.3 percentage-point annual decrease in the average occupancy rate in Beirut’s hospitality sector to 62.2% during the month of September 2023. Conversely, the average room rate more than doubled to read $170.0. As a result, the revenue per available room (RevPAR), which is the product of the occupancy and average room rate, rose by 125.1% y-o-y to $106.0. 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 September 2022 – September 2023 period:

On a regional basis, Beirut recorded the lowest average occupancy rate (48.0%) in the hospitality sector among the nine covered Middle Eastern capitals during the first nine months of 2023. Abu Dhabi, on the other hand, outperformed its regional peers, enjoying the highest average occupancy rate of 78.1%, followed by Cairo City (70.7%) and Riyadh (62.7%). Beirut’s 4 and 5 star hotels charged the fourth highest average room rate of $148, outperforming Amman ($146), Cairo City ($141) and Muscat ($123) among others. Riyadh, on the other hand, recorded the highest average room rate of $185, followed by Kuwait City ($169) and Manama ($153).