Doha's hotels, which registered 61% occupancy, saw their rooms' yield shrink in 2012 because of lower average room rate, according to Ernst and Young (E&Y).
On the other hand, Manama, Jeddah, Madinah and Dubai saw double-digit gains in hotel rooms' yield on positive movements in occupancy and average room rate, E&Y said in survey.
A 3% fall in occupancy and 4.5% in average room rate to $262 resulted in Doha's hotel rooms' yield shrink 8.1% to $162 year-to-date in December 2012.
In December alone, Doha hotel rooms' yield plummeted 23.4% to $190 on the back of a 19.4% fall in average room rate to $301 and 3% fall in occupancy to 63%.
Although Manama (Bahrain) had the lowest occupancy among the Gulf Co-operation Council cities, its hotel rooms' yield surged 21.4% to $83. The marginal 0.6% fall in average room rate to $209 was made good by a 7% gain in occupancy (at 39%).
In the case of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah witnessed 18.5% expansion in hotel rooms' yield to $194 on a 7% growth in occupancy (80%) and 9.4% in average room rate to $242.
In Madinah, the hotel rooms' yield soared 16.5% to $153 on the back of 3% rise in occupancy (68%) and 11.9% in average room rate to $223.
Makkah witnessed a modest 4.3% gain in rooms' yield to $235 as there was a 2% rise in occupancy (75%) even though there was only a marginal 0.9% rise in average room rate to $311.
However, in the case of the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, the yield was down 0.6% to $131 although occupancy was up 2% (58%) but there was a 3.6% slippage in average room rate to $223.
In the UAE, Dubai outshone other emirates such as Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. In Dubai, the prospects were rather lifted by city hotels and apartments than beach resorts, whose tariffs are on the higher side.
The yield in Dubai (overall) grew 10.4% to $202 on a 7.3% rise in average room rate to $250 and 3% in occupancy (81%).
Dubai apartments saw their rooms' yield soar 11.1% to $105 on 3% growth in occupancy (86%) and 6.8% in average room rate to $121.
Dubai hotel rooms' yield gained 10.4% to $160 on the back of a 5% rise in average room rate to $196 and a 4% in occupancy (81%).
Dubai beach hotels' yield gained 7.9% to $281 on an 8.9% rise in average room rate to $354 even as there was a 1% decline in occupancy (79%).
In Abu Dhabi, a 10.7% decline in average room rate to $191 led to a 10% fall in rooms' yield to $146 despite 1% growth in occupancy (76%).
Al Ain hotel rooms' yield shrank 3.7% to $92 as average room rate tanked 9% to $142 although occupancy rose 3% (64%).
Kuwait witnessed a 7% slippage in rooms' yield to $145 due to a 3.7% slide in average room rate to $278 and occupancy by 1% (52%).
Muscat also saw a 3.1% fall in hotel rooms' yield to $139 on the back of 3.9% fall in average room rate to $206 but occupancy rose 1% (67%).
© Gulf Times 2013