CAIRO Hotel performance in Cairo, site of large-scale political unrest last month, has stabilized at low levels, according to the latest data from STR Global.
Cairo occupancy has been down consistently since late January, when the protests began. However, although many tourists and business travelers fled the city when the unrest hit its peak, they were partially replaced by high-paying media organizations covering the unfolding story, which pushed up ADR.
By the end of February, occupancy stabilized below the 20% mark, but ADR stood at about EGP750 (US$126), which is on par with the same time last year.
“A stable and secure environment is needed to bring visitors back to Egypt, and whilst it is not yet certain when demand will return to normal levels, it is recommendable for the hotels to continue with their current strategy of not dropping average room rates, as it will not stimulate additional demand to counterbalance a potential drop in revenue per available room”, says Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.
STR Global tracks daily hotel performance from 24 hotels in the Egypt capital.