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JEDDAH – In Saudi Arabia, Jeddah witnessed an 8.8 percent expansion in hotel rooms’ yield to $207 on a 6.7 percent growth in average room rate to $266 and 1 percent in occupancy to 77 percent, during the first four months of this year, Ernst & Young (EY) said.

Riyadh witnessed a 7.9 percent rise in hotel rooms’ yield to $162 on account of 7 percent growth in occupancy to 73 percent even as average room rate fell 3.1 percent to $220.

In Madinah, the hotel rooms’ yield rose 2.6 percent to $151 as an 8.4 percent plunge in average room rate to $182 was made good by a 9 percent jump in occupancy to 82 percent.

Makkah witnessed a 4.7 percent slump in rooms’ yield to $136 as average room rate plunged 16.7 percent to $165; while there was a 10 percent surge in occupancy to 82 percent.

In neighboring countries, Qatar’s hospitality industry painted a rosy picture during the first four months of this year, with Doha witnessing rise in hotel rooms’ yield mainly on higher occupancy, EY report further said.

In comparison, the hospitality industry in most of the neighboring countries witnessed faster gains in rooms’ yield year-on-year during the review period, EY said in its Middle East Hotel Benchmark survey.

Doha’s hotels, whose occupancy surged 4 percent to 71 percent, saw their room’s yield (RevPAR) expand 1.7 percent to $169, although average rooms’ rate fell 4.2 percent to $236 in January-April 2014, it said. In April alone, hotel rooms’ yield in Doha rose 5.4 percent to $177 on the back of a 4 percent gain in occupancy to 76 percent amid a marginal 0.1 percent increase in average room rate to $230.

Manama, which had the lowest occupancy among the Gulf Co-operation Council cities, saw its hotel rooms’ yield rise 1 percent to $107 despite a 4.4 percent decline in average room rate to $207. Occupancy rather rose 3 percent to 51 percent.

In the UAE, the yield in Dubai (overall) grew 3.6 percent to $284 mainly on a 4.8 percent rise in average room rate to $324 although occupancy fell 1 percent to 87 percent.

Dubai City saw its hotel rooms’ yield gain 6.8 percent to $218 on the back of a 6.7 percent jump in average room rate to $241, even as occupancy was flat at 90 percent.

The Dubai beach hotels rooms’ yield was up 0.9 percent to $395 on a 4.8 percent jump in average room rate to $473, but occupancy fell 3 percent to 83 percent, according to the survey.

In Abu Dhabi, a 6.6 percent shrinkage in average room rate to $218 led to a 6.5 percent fall in the rooms’ yield to $181 with occupancy flat at 82 percent.

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