Events such as the Culture Summit led to a surge in Abu Dhabi's hotel occupancy rate in April. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
Events such as the Culture Summit led to a surge in Abu Dhabi's hotel occupancy rate in April. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

Abu Dhabi hotel occupancy climbs to 87.9 per cent in April



Abu Dhabi's hotel occupancy grew 4.7 per cent year-on-year to reach 87.9 per cent in April on the back of a rise in bookings related to conferences and exhibitions, according to the latest EY hotel sector survey.

The rate in neighbouring Dubai, however, slipped 3.4 percentage points year-on-year for the same period, but still remained among the highest in the broader Middle East and North Africa region, supported by real-estate events such as Dubai Property Festival and the International Property Show, EY said in its Mena Hotel Benchmark Survey, which was released on Thursday.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the capital remained flat at US$97 (Dh356) in April. Earlier this month, EY reported that the average room rate in the emirate fell by 14.7 per cent from $122 in the first quarter of 2017 to $104 over the same period this year.

In Dubai, it declined 13.3 per cent to reach $235 in April from $271 for the same period in 2017, according to the report, which attributed the slide to an increase in hotel supply and preferences for more affordable accommodation.

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Read more:

Dubai registers highest Mena hotel occupancy rate during Q1
Mena hotel performance to remain weak, with few exceptions, EY says

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The hospitality sector in the rest of the region remained lukewarm, with the decline in RevPAR recorded across internationally branded four- and five-star hotels in April.

Dubai's April performance comes in contrast to its overall performance for the first half of this year, where it registered the highest hotel occupancy rate in the region at 86.9 per cent, driven by local shopping festivals and temperate weather at the start of the year.

Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia also saw a slowdown in its hospitality sector, with the Makkah market seeing a significant decrease in RevPAR by 27.9 per cent to $69 in April from $95 during the same period in 2017. Egypt and Jordan, on the other hand, witnessed a pick-up in occupancy in April with the former jumping 8.3 percentage points to reach 77.3 per cent, and the latter growing by 8 per cent to reach $95.

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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Company: Rent Your Wardrobe 

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Founder: Mamta Arora 

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Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Engine 3.6L V6

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm

Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km

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Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en