The Middle East/Africa region reported positive performance results in March 2012 when reported in US dollars, data compiled by STR Global showed. In March 2012, the region's occupancy jumped 14.6 percent to 65.1 percent, its average daily rate increased 3.3 percent to $175.33 and its revenue per available room jumped 18.4 percent to $114.07. In the first quarter of 2012, the region's occupancy rose 8.9 percent to 60.9 percent, its ADR was virtually flat with a 0.9 percent increase to $175.97 and its RevPAR increased 9.9 percent to $107.23. “The majority of markets across the GCC have weathered the recent storms fairly well”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. “We have seen demand growth for most markets in the region, highlighting the stronger underlying fundaments of stability and attractiveness to regional and international visitors. Increasing room inventory has been a dominant factor influencing performance in the past and will continue to do so as the region remains attractive for hotel owners and operators. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are interesting case studies to show how hotel markets can cope with balancing demand and supply.” Excluding Makkah and Madina, Jeddah is the star performer in RevPAR growth for the first quarter. The city benefited from demand growth (+17.3 percent) and a temporary reduction of available rooms as the Westin Jeddah is closed for refurbishment between October 2011 and summer 2012. Al-Khobar saw RevPAR in Q1 2012 increase to SR414.16 (+18.0 percent), led by occupancy reaching 57.3 percent (+13.4 percent) compared to the previous year. Occupancy growth primarily was driven by increased demand (+21.2 percent) amid fairly low increases in new supply (+6.9 percent), which in previous years increased by double digits. Riyadh's supply growth (+11.5 percent) in Q1 2012 outpaced demand (+3.1 percent). This resulted in an occupancy decline of 7.5 percent to 63.2 percent. Dubai and Abu Dhabi benefited from a fairly similar demand growth, with Dubai growing by 11.0 percent and Abu Dhabi by 9.7 percent. However, considering the supply growth since 2011, the impact on RevPAR performance has been quite different.
