Tourism Accor revenue rises sharply across Middle East hotels By Melissa Hancock July 31, 2023, 1:48 PM Accor Hotels Accor has more than 80 hotels in the UAE, including the Novotel Dubai Deira City Centre Revenue per available room up 51% for Middle East, Asia and Pacific Hotel brands include budget Ibis and luxury Raffles First-half results also show ‘solid performances’ in Gulf Accor, Europe’s largest hotel group, reported a 51 percent jump in revenue per available room across the Middle East, Asia and Pacific in the first half of the year. The Paris-based hotelier did not give a more detailed breakdown of revenue growth, but said the Middle East accounted for 27 percent of the €128 million ($141 million) it made from management and franchise fees across the Middle East, Asia and Pacific. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) – a key measure for the industry – rose 38 percent across the group, whose hotel brands include Ibis, Novotel and Raffles. Saudi flight bookings above pre-Covid levels Opinion: Raffles the Palm could be peak Dubai bling Marriage law change set to boost Dubai’s wedding industry Accor said the Middle East continued to post “solid performances” in 2023, even though last year’s figures were boosted by one-off events such as the Expo in Dubai and the World Cup in Qatar. The holy cities of Saudi Arabia also benefited from religious pilgrimages for Ramadan (beginning of the second quarter) and the Hajj (end of the second quarter). The average room rate in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific stood at €86, with an occupancy rate of 65.2 percent. Accor also pointed to a recovery in China since the start of 2023, saying there was still room for “considerable” growth as business had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. “Half-year activity growth was very strong across all of our brands and markets,” said Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor. “This momentum should continue for the coming months, driven by robust demand in both leisure and business tourism.” The group’s net profit stood at €248 million in the six months to the end of June 2023, well up on the €32 million recorded in the same period last year. Revenue was €2.4 billion, up from €1.7 billion. Accor has increased its earnings forecast for the year. It now predicts earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €930 million-970 million, up from €920 million-960 million. The group opened 114 hotels in the first half of 2023 – a total of 14,500 rooms. This is equivalent to net unit growth of 3.5 percent. At the end of June, its portfolio was 805,436 rooms and 5,487 hotels. Within the Middle East, Asia and Pacific region, it has 1,575 hotels and 293,524 rooms.
