Qatar's four-star hotels witnessed the fastest growth in average revenue per room on an annualised basis in March this year, according to figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).
The country's hospitality sector witnessed an overall improvement in the room yield this March despite decline in occupancy. This comes amidst 759.1% year-on-year surge in visitor arrivals to Qatar in the review period.
The properties that have been utilised as quarantine/Covid-19 response facilities have been removed from the full market data set from March 2020, the PSA said.
The average revenue per available room in the four-star category saw more than doubling year-on-year to QR224 in March 2022. The average room rate in four-star hotels surged 37.85% to QR295 and the occupancy improved to 76% in March 2022 against 51% the previous-year period.
The country's overall hospitality sector saw only a 2.03% year-on-year increase to QR352 in March 2022. The average room rate went up 17.5% to QR556 even as the occupancy declined to 63% compared to 73% in March 2021.
In the case of five-star hotels, the average revenue per available room gained 5.39% on annualised basis to QR430 in March this year. The average room rate in five-star hotels jumped 4.5% year-on-year to QR674 and the occupancy marginally improved to 64% against 63% in March 2021.
The three-star hotels witnessed a 22.98% year-on-year expansion in average revenue per available room to QR198 in March this year. The average room rate shot up 24.71% to QR217, but occupancy fell to 91% from 92% in March 2021.
The two-star and one-star category hotels' average revenue per available room grew 31.91% year-on-year to QR124 in March 2022. The average room rate in two-star and one-star hotels shot up 32.54% on yearly basis to QR167. Their occupancy was rather flat on an annualised basis at 74%.
In the case of standard hotel apartments, the room yield was up 1.77% year-on-year to QR229 in March 2022. The average room rate was seen going up 3.64% year-on-year to QR313 despite the occupancy declining to 73% compared to 75% in March 2021.
The deluxe hotel apartments nevertheless saw a 5.56% year-on-year contraction to QR306 in March 2022. The average room rate in the deluxe hotel apartments zoomed 33.33% on annualised basis to QR532. However, the occupancy plummeted to 58% in March 2022 against 81% the previous year period.