Abu Dhabi hotel room rates rise 4.9% in December

Abu Dhabi — The hotel establishments price index in Abu Dhabi increased by 5.1 per cent in December 2014 compared with December 2013. The index was 102.6 points in December 2013 and increased to 107.9 points in December 2014.

This increase was caused by a 4.9 per cent hike in the prices of hotel rooms and 5.7 per cent rise in the rates of hotel apartments.

The increase was caused by an increase in the prices of five-star hotels by 7.9 per cent, three-star hotels by 3.1 per cent, two-star hotels by 13.8 per cent, while four-star and one-star hotels decreased by 1.9 per cent and 12.6 per cent respectively.

The rate hike of hotel apartment rooms during December 2014 was mainly due to the increases in deluxe hotel apartments by 2.6 per cent and standard hotel apartments by 20.2 per cent, while superior hotel apartments decreased by 0.9 per cent.

The index is a statistical price indicator compiled by the Statistics Centre — Abu Dhabi (SCAD) to measure the changes in hotel room prices over two time periods in Abu Dhabi.

This indicator provides information about price movements in the hotel establishments based on the categories of hotels adopted by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority. Hotels are categorised from one- to five-star, while hotel apartments are categorised as deluxe, standard or superior.

The hotel establishment price rates are collected and the index is calculated monthly according to the adopted categories of hotels in Abu Dhabi. This informs policy-makers, tourists, tourist offices and other users about the change in hotel room rates.

The hotel establishments room rates index decreased by 21.1 per cent in December 2014 compared with November 2014, with the index decreasing from 136.8 points in November 2014 to 107.9 points in December 2014.

The decrease was mainly caused by a 23.9 per cent drop in the hotel room rates index and a decrease of 8.3 per cent in the hotel apartments rates index.

The decrease in most hotel categories ranged between 2.9 per cent and 35.6 per cent.

The decrease in prices for deluxe, superior and standard hotel apartments by 10.6 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively caused a decrease in the hotel apartment room rates index of 8.3 per cent during December 2014 compared with November 2014.

Meanwhile, the cumulative index of hotel establishment prices (Jan-Dec 2014) decreased by 3.6 per cent compared with the same period in 2013. The hotel room rates decreased by 4.9 per cent, while the rate of hotel apartment rooms increased by 1.7 per cent.

This index is used as a reference tool by the media, analysts, hotel owners and tourism bodies. It also improves understanding of the evolution in the interim prices of hotel rooms for tourists, tour operators and travel agencies.

— business@khaleejtimes.com