Hotel Chains’ Middle East Recovery Stalls as Peak Season Arrives

Photo Credit: Raffles Doha, a luxury hotel, is within the Katara Towers, inspired by the crossed swords of Qatar. Accor The world’s largest hotel groups saw their Middle East business recover in the third quarter from the collapse that followed the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war. But most now expect the region to weaken again in the fourth quarter, its most important season of the year, as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia prolong the uncertainty — and event cancellations there weigh on demand. Accor Is Most Exposed Accor, the France-headquartered hotels giant, has the most exposure to the region compared with its peers. The Middle East accounts for about 11% of its global room revenue, with Saudi Arabia at about 5% and the UAE at roughly 4%. Its Middle East RevPAR fell 3% in the third quarter. “Saudi and Egypt continued to perform well, and the UAE RevPAR improved materially from the second quarter,” said Martine Gerow, group CFO, on an October 22 earnings call. UAE RevPAR was down by just over 20% and occupancy was back in the mid-60s percent, she said. For A