Doha: The hospitality sector in Qatar is booming and has gained momentum which is evident by the increase in hotel and hotel apartment occupancy rates. In June, the performance among the hotels of all categories ranging from five star to two and one star have seen rise in occupancy rates and revenue per available room, according to the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) report.
The report noted that the three star hotels registered the highest occupancy rate in June due to gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions which has led to increase in hotel visitors and guests. The occupancy rate of three star hotels has surged to 82 percent in June this year compared to 76 percent in May 2021 and 57 percent in June last year.
The five star hotels occupancy rate has risen to 59 percent in June 2021 from 48 percent in May of the same year. Similarly, the occupancy rate of four star hotels has jumped to 59 percent in June when compared to 49 percent in May. In case of two and one star, the hotels’ occupancy rates stood at 71 percent in June this year from 56 percent in the previous month of 2021.
The occupancy rates of deluxe hotel apartments and standard hotel apartments for the months of May and June this year were 59 percent and 73 percent respectively.
Hotels in Qatar have also witnessed an increase in revenue per available room which is used to assess a hotel’s ability to fill its available rooms at an average rate.
It is important because it helps hotel industry measure the overall success of their hotel. Revenue per available room for five star hotels increased to QR436 in June from QR300 in May, while in the four star hotels it increased to QR136 in June from QR115 in May this year.
The average room rate for hotels and hotel apartments increased to QR438 in May this year from QR345 in May 2020.
The total supply of hotel keys in Qatar reached 28,300 by the start of 2021, which represented an annual increase of 1,200 keys. There are approximately 20,000 hotel keys under construction and expected to be completed by mid-2022, said Cushman and Wakefield Qatar (CWQ) in its second quarter report ‘Qatar’s Real Estate Market Review’.
The easing of COVID-related restrictions, the take-up of vaccines, and the resumption of diplomatic ties in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are all expected to boost regional travel, which will be a welcome development to the hotel sector in the second half of this year, it added.
Some 90 percent of Qatar’s eligible population (12 years and above) have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). As many as 4,076,666 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since the start of National COVID-19 Vaccination Program in Qatar.
