Room supply from properties under development in the country is expected to further increase in the coming years, according to Qatar National Tourism Council’s (QNTC) Annual Tourism Performance Report.
These will include 107 projects, comprising an estimated 21,500 rooms, under various stages of development, as well as other project proposals under consideration.
The total number of rooms in Qatar currently stands at 27,261 across 130 properties. Out of this, 24,562 are hotel rooms and 2,699 hotel apartments.
Hotels and hotel apartments in the country witnessed high occupancy in 2019, receiving more guests compared to the previous year, the report said.
QNTC noted that Qatar’s hospitality accommodation industry recorded 66% total occupancy rate across all hotels and hotel apartments last year – an increase of 9%.
“Overall, the number of rooms sold (demand) in hotels and hotel apartments increased by 15% in 2019 compared to 2018. All hotel and hotel apartments witnessed increases in occupancy in 2019, except for deluxe apartments,” the report said.
Both one-star and two-star hotels benefitted the most with more than 23% increase in occupancy followed by three-star hotels, up by 11%, the report added.
The demand for standard hotel apartment rooms also increased by 10% while five-star hotels recorded a 9% growth. Deluxe hotel apartments saw a slight decline of 1% in occupancy.
The report added that the Average Room Rate (ARR) across all segments fell slightly by 2%, particularly in standard hotel apartments (down 9%) and in four-star and five-star hotels (both down 4%) last year compared to 2018.
However, QNTC noted that ARR was up across one-star and two-star hotels by 3% and 1% in deluxe hotel apartments while figures for three-star hotels remained unchanged.
“Across all segments, Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) was up 7% in 2019. In a similar pattern to occupancy rates, RevPAR was up in all segments for 2019 compared to 2018, except for the deluxe hotel apartments segment, which showed a very minor decline (-1%),” the report said.
“Most notable increases in RevPAR were witnessed in one-star and two-star hotels (up 26%), followed by three-star hotels (up 11%). Both the four-star and five-star segments saw a 5% increase in RevPAR,” the report added.
QNTC saw a slight decline of 2% in the average length of stay (ALOS) across all hotels and hotel apartments last year (3.7 nights per trip) compared to the same period in 2018 (3.8 nights per trip).
“However, ALOS showed increases in two segments; by 29% in three-star hotels and 7% in five-star hotels. The highest drops were seen in deluxe hotel apartments (-58%), one- and two-star hotels (-33%), as well as in 4-star hotels (-12%),” the report said.
The start of 2019 saw the opening of 10 new properties, adding 1,899 new hotel rooms to the market.
QNTC noted that 2019 also recorded a 6% increase in the number of rooms across Qatar’s hospitality accommodation market compared to 2018.
Despite the temporary closure of two five-star hotels for renovation in the third quarter of 2019, the five-star hotel segment remains the largest, with approximately 12,900 rooms across 49 properties at the close of 2019,” the report said.
hospitality
