Occupancy rate at Beirut
hotels reached 56 percent

Room yield rose nine percent

The average occupancy rate in Beirut hotels rose by four points to 56 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year, according to Ernst and Young’s ‘Benchmark Survey of the Hotel Sector in the Middle East’.

According to the E&Y report, the average room rate in 2015 was almost unchanged at $175 (up 1.1 percent) and the room yield rose to $99 from $91 in 2014.

Pierre Achkar, Chairman of the Syndicate of Hotels Owners said: “Comparing year to year is no longer meaningful. The comparison should be made with these five lean years and the 2009-2010 season and before. Since the absence of Gulf tourists, the hotels have lowered their prices and have been competing for each other’s market shares. The prices of five-star hotels have become equivalent to those of four-star hotels, which in turn became equivalent to those of three-star hotels.”