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Ernst & Young’s benchmark survey of the Middle East hotel sector indicated that the average occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut was 72 percent in the first half of 2010, increasing from 69 percent in the same period last year, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.

The occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the 11th highest among 19 markets in the region, while it was 12th highest in the first half of 2009. The survey said the average rate per room at Beirut hotels was $246 in the first half of 2010, ranking the capital’s hotels as the fifth most expensive in the region behind Dubai-Beach, Doha, Manama and Kuwait City.

The average rate per room at Beirut hotels increased by 15.9 percent to $246 year-on-year and posted the highest increase among all markets in the region. The average rate per room in Beirut came above the regional average of $193, which declined by 4.7 percent from $202 in the same period of 2009.

Occupancy rates at Beirut hotels were 64 percent in January, 76 percent in February, 68 percent in March, 79 percent in April, 71 percent in May, and 77 percent in June 2010, compared to 85 percent in January, 76 percent in February, 74 percent in March, 81 percent in April, 68 percent in May, and 69 percent in June 2009. Beirut hotels had an occupancy rate of 73 percent for all of 2009.

Revenues per available room (RevPAR) were $179 in Beirut in the first half of 2010, up from $147 last year, ranking it in fourth place in the region after Dubai-Beach, Doha, and Abu Dhabi. Beirut’s RevPAR was up 21.6 percent year-on-year, posting the second highest rise in the Middle East, after Sharm El-Sheikh with 22.7 percent, and compared to an increase of 1.1 percent across the region.

Beirut posted RevPARs of $160 in January, $209 in February, $155 in March, $208 in April, $158 in May, and $188 in June 2010. Dubai-Beach posted the highest average room rate in the region at $317 and the highest RevPAR at $263, while Sharm El-Sheikh posted the highest occupancy rate at 85 percent in the first half of the year.

Copyright Dailystar

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