At the end of June 2018, the occupancy rate of Moroccan hotels fell by 1.4% year-on-year to 56.8%, according to Smith Travel Research (STR). Nevertheless, the average daily rate marked an increase of 24.1%to 1,305.26 DH; revenue per available room also increased by 22.4% to 741.37 DH.
STR analysts attribute the strong growth in the latter two indicators to several events that boosted the tourism sector during this period, as well as the usual increase in demand after the month of Ramadan.
It should be noted that, according to Said Mouhid, President of the Morocco Tourism Observatory, the sample taken into account in the firm’s calculations is not representative; This concerns data collected from large Moroccan hotel groups only (around ten hotels).
According to our interlocutor, for the first six months of the current year:
> The occupancy rate of 5-star hotels increased by 6%;
> the occupancy rate of 4-star hotels increased by 3%;
> the occupancy rate of 3-star hotels increased by 6%.
Tourism activity increases in Africa and declines in the Middle East
In Africa, the overall hotel occupancy rate increased by 5.1% to 56.3%. Average daily rate and revenue per available room increased 6.6% to $113.71 and 12% to $63.97 respectively.
In this sense, the American cabinet cited the example of Nigeriawhose hotel occupancy rate increased from 10.9% to 49.4%. The average daily rate and revenue per available room grew by 9.9% and 21.9%, respectively.
The STR team believes that the correlation between oil prices and Nigeria’s tourism sector explains the growth in the country’s hotel performance. The absolute occupancy rate of 49.4% was the highest in the country since 2014.
In contrast, hotels in the Middle East recorded a decline of 3.5%, to 60.2% in terms of occupancy. The average daily rate fell 5.8% to $159.13 and revenue per available room fell 9.1% to $95.73. Thus, hotels in this region recorded negative results for this quarter, according to the study.
For example, Kuwait recorded an occupancy rate of 52.7%, down slightly by 0.9% compared to the same period a year earlier. The average daily rate and revenue per available room fell by 1.6% and 2.5% respectively.
STR analysts explain that Kuwait saw a surge in demand during Eid al-Fitr, like most countries in the region. However, absolute levels of revenue per available room have remained low since falling oil prices and declining occupancy rates.
Source: leboursier.ma
