THE organisers of the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC 2015) met mid-September and agreed that untapped opportunities in the Middle East still involve the midscale and lifestyle segments, as well as branded serviced apartments. Some of the speakers also highlighted the challenges present in some regions, where demand fluctuates and legal regulations impact progress.
An STR Presentation on the Middle East’s hotel performance and trends, which was shared with the advisory board members on the day, showed that Dubai’s midscale and economy class hotel occupancy rates reached 88 per cent last month, with other regions witnessing similar rates. As of July 2014, the Middle East has witnessed an increase of 5.5 per cent year-to-date RevPAR and a 41 per cent in the number of hotel rooms. The statistics also showed that the demand is currently higher than the supply by 2.5 per cent. Occupancy rates were the highest in Dubai, where it reached 78 per cent and average daily rate was at $248. In the region, Manama enjoyed the highest RevPAR, where it reached +17.7 per cent.Many of the advisory board members expressed a keen interest in updates provided on Egypt’s tourism and hospitality sector and concluded that Egypt should host a regional briefing in advance of AHIC 2015. Abu Bakr Makhlouf, commercial director of Egyptian Resorts Company, said: “We’re looking at Egypt and we see great potential in building new destinations with self-sufficient and fully managed environment offering a 360 hospitality experience. This is because long-term demand on Egypt is an upward curve while current supply of reasonable quality is near capacity at the few tourism hubs. Infrastructure is at its limits and investors need to expand outside conventional cities with excess demand and deteriorating end-user experience. This is why privately owned destinations like Sahl Hasheesh are the natural answer for hospitality and real estate growth in Egypt and in some other markets in the region.” AHIC 2015 Conference will take place next year from May 5 to 7 next year at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The conference is organised by Bench Events and Meed.