The Middle East/Africa region reported mostly negative performance results in 2011
In 2011, the region reported a 6.8-percent decrease in occupancy to 57.1 percent, a 5.3-percent increase in average daily rate to US$162.81 and a 1.8-percent decrease in revenue per available room to US$92.99.
Due to the Arab Spring starting early 2011 across Northern Africa, the performances between Africa and the Middle East differ greatly, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. Africa reported declining occupancy for all months in 2011, with average room rates declining throughout the latter half of the year. The Africa results were further impacted by supply increases in South Africa and the FIFA World Cup in 2010.
The Middle East reported occupancy and average-room-rate improvements driven from the strong demand growth (+9.0 percent), the highest growth rate for the global regions, and the highest yearly growth achieved since the last seven years, Randall said.