In Q1, the hotel market in Saudi Arabia surpassed the rest of the GCC with respect to RevPAR development.

According to STR Global, the first quarter of 2012, following a generally favorable year-end of 2011, saw a mixed turnover per available room (RevPAR) in the key markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). freelancers

In the first quarter of 2012, the RevPAR continued to alter Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Despite increasing demand in all but one area, the RevPAR outcome was hindered by continuing supply growth in the other main GCC markets.

"Most markets across the GCC have had a rather good weather in the recent storms," said STR Global Managing Director Elizabeth Randall. "Most local markets have experienced increasing demand, indicating the better underlying bases of stability and appeal for visitors in the regions and beyond. In the past, growing inventory of rooms has played a significant role in efficiency, so long as the region is attractive to hotel owners and operators. The case studies from Dubai and Abu Dhabi show how the hotel markets may balance demand and supply "There was a mistake.

Jeddah is the greatest developer of RevPAR, with the exception of Makkah and Medina, both in Saudi Arabia in the first quarter. The city benefitted from increasing demand (+17.3%) and temporarily declines in availability owing to the shutdown in October 2011-summer of the Westin Jeddah for refurbishment.

In Q1 2012, Al Khobar's RevPAR rose by 8.1% to SAR414.16 (+18.0%), with the previous year's occupancy growth of 57.3% (+13.4%). Increased demand (+21.2%) fueled employment growth, despite very modest gains in new supply (+6.9%), previously doubled. Riyadh's supplier growth (+11.5%) exceeded demand in other areas of Saudi Arabia (+3.1%) in Q1 2012. This led to a 7.5% decrease in occupancy to 63.2%.

In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi reflect two distinct cycle stages in terms of supply increase during the last 15 months. Similar demand increased in both cities in the first quarter of 2012, with Dubai rising 11.0% and Abu Dhabi rising 9.7%. The impact of supply increase on RevPAR efficiency after 2011 has nonetheless been considerably different. Abu Dhabi has seen double-digit supply increase since December 2011 with 16.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012. The extra storage led to a 6.0% decrease in occupancy to 64.1%. Abu Dhabi's average daily rate (ADR) was AED633.85 in the first quarter of this year, down 11.7% from the previous year. In Dubai, new supplies grew at a slower rate of 2.6% in Q1, which resulted in an increase of 8.2% to 86.6%. During the same period, ADR grew by 8.7% to AED964.86 and the RevPAR rose by 17.6%.

Other GCC markets in RevPAR are seeing a decline.

Due to double-digit supply increase (+17.4 per cent), which outstripped demand growth of 5.1 percent, occupancy in Doha, Qatar decreased 10.5 per cent to 63.6 per cent in Q1 2012. ADR decreased to QAR827.8 (-4.5 percent) on a competitive basis compared to the previous year.

Following the turmoil in February 2011, RevPAR output in Manama, Bahrain continued to decrease in the first quarter 2012, down from the previous year to BHD 35.87 (-9.0 percent). While occupancy in March 2012 rose by 112.1%, by March 2011 it rose by 21.2%. Demand for the destination rose by 1.1 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Kuwait's occupancy rate was 57.3 percent (-6.6 percent) lower in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the previous year. At the same time, ADR dropped 1.9 percent to KWD63.00. Kuwait was the only industry in the first quarter to show a decrease in demand (-5.0 percent).

Although the average daily rate (ADR) for Muscat dropped 7.3% to OMR94.98 in the first quarter of 2012, city hotels were up 67.3% (+3.5%) owing to increasing demand (+8.0%). The demand growth in Muscat exceeded the production increase of 4.3 percent.

STR Global monitors approximately 93,200 rooms, including Makkah and Medina, in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.