Despite limited new supply during the third quarter of 2015, the hotel market segment in Saudi Arabia continued to display a positive trend with a number of new luxury and upper upscale projects lined up for completion in two years, said a report.

At the end of Q3 2015, there were 6,131 rooms under construction in Riyadh spread among 25 hotel properties, while the hotel pipeline in Makkah consisted of 16,153 rooms across 11 hotel establishments, said a report released by PKF Consulting, an international firm of management consultants and industry specialists.

In Riyadh, hotel occupancy remained stable at 51 per cent during the third quarter in 2015, compared to Q3 2014. According to a third party report, ADR figures witnessed a 7.2 per cent y-o-y growth in July 2015, standing at SR810, while September 2015 registered a y-o-y increase of 2.3 per cent, bringing ADR up to SR825. As a result, RevPAR indicators reached SR288.4 in July and SR462 in September 2015, representing an increase of 8.2 per cent and a decrease of 17 per cent respectively.

In Jeddah, occupancy rates across the hospitality sector witnessed a y-o-y increase of 6.4 per cent during Q3 2015 and stood at 83 per cent. The high occupancy rates in the city could be partially attributed to the large number of pilgrims who visited Jeddah as part of their pilgrimage to Makkah in September. According to third party industry reports, hotel establishments in Jeddah recorded a 5.3 per cent higher ADR in Q3 (SR1,170.8), compared to the corresponding period in 2014. As a result, RevPAR indicators reached SR968.8, indicating an 11.5 per cent-growth y-o-y.

With regards to the recent additions to the hotel establishments supply in Saudi Arabia, Q3 witnessed the opening of the 438-key Movenpick Hotel Riyadh as well as the 112-room Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel and Ascott Tahlia serviced apartments, both of which are located in Jeddah.

With hospitality sector quickly becoming a viable career option for Saudi nationals, renowned international hotel chains, such as Accor and Hilton Worldwide, have developed new management trainee schemes, aimed at assisting Saudi locals in developing hospitality-related management skills and gaining on-the-job working experience. The newly implemented programmes are also in line with the government’s strategy of Saudisation, whose objective is to increase the number of Saudi nationals employed in the private sector. - TradeArabia News Service