Qatar opened 1,244 new rooms in H1

Qatar’s tourism accommodation sector has continued to develop rapidly in the first half of 2017 with opening of three new properties, a Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) report has said.In its Tourism Performance Summary H1 (first half) 2017, QTA noted that these properties added 1,244 new rooms to the Qatar market, which brings the total number of available rooms to 24,293 across 121 properties. QTA said the 5-Star occupancy rate increased by 1%, from 60% last year to 61% this year while the 3-Star occupancy rate increased from 57% last year to 60% this year during the same period.“The occupancy rate averaged 62% across all hotels and hotel apartments in H1 2017. The highest rates were achieved in the Standard Apartment and 4-Star segments, at 72% and 68% respectively,” the report noted. The report added that the 5-Star and Deluxe Apartment segments achieved the highest rates for the Average Room Rate (ARR) at QR638 and QR459 while 1-Star and 3-Star hotels got the lowest rates at QR199 and QR255, respectively. The highest rates for Average Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) are reported in the 5-Star and Deluxe Apartment segments at QR388 and QR271 while the lowest rates are reported in 1-Star, 2-Star and 3-Star hotels at QR99 and QR154, respectively. The first half of 2017 saw an increase in occupancy in two classifications in the hotel property segment: 5-Star grew by 0.4%; and 3-Star grew by 5.5% compared to the same period last year. The 4-Star hotel properties performed “relatively well” in terms of ARR with a slight decline in room rate compared to the 5-Star hotel properties, according to QTA. Meanwhile, most of the visitors stayed in Qatar for 3.7 nights (average) from January to June this year, an increase of 8% compared to 3.4 nights during the same period in 2016. “The highest Average Length of Stay (ALOS) continues to be observed across the hotel apartment classifications, with Deluxe Apartments reporting the highest ALOS at 12.1 nights in H1 2017, followed by Standard Apartments with 8.7 nights during the same period,” the report said. QTA also recorded the largest increase in ALOS in the 3-Star segment, which grew by 21% from 2.4 nights per trip to 2.9 nights while the lowest increase was observed in 1-Star and 2-Star hotels, up by 5% from 2.4 nights per trip to 2.5 nights per trip. “Numbers are not the only performance indicator for this sector. Visitor experience is at the heart of plans for this sector’s development and will continue to be our priority,” QTA’s chief tourism development officer Hassan al-Ibrahim added.