The wider impact of the on-going political stalemate in Kuwait has impacted the demand from major market segments.
This was revealed in the year-to-date figures from the HotStats survey which show that performance levels in Kuwait have softened across all major KPIs over the past eight months, compared to the same period in 2011. On the top-line, the market witnessed a 6.9% drop in RevPAR and 1.6% drop in TRevPAR during the period while at the bottom line the GOPPAR saw a decline of 1.8%. TRI research indicates that business demand, including both local and inbound corporate travel, and meetings/events demand, has suffered during the year as projects worth over US$ 61 billion remain on hold.
However, Kuwait hotels Occupancy increased marginally to 33.9%, up 1.3% points while Average Room Rate (ARR) dropped 1.3% to US$238.91, compared to 2011, leaving rooms revenue in terms of Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) for the month at US$80.99 with only a marginal increase of 2.7%. Despite the extremely low occupancy levels, Kuwait hotels are somewhat shielded from a heavy drop in rates, thanks to the rate agreement sponsored by the Kuwait Hotel Owners Association which the majority of the four and five star hotels are part of. On the bottom line, growth in revenues converted to a 72.9% growth in Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room (GOPPAR) at US$56.97 compared to 2011.