January was a rough month for hotels in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the latest data from HotStats tracking full-service hotels. The analytics company blamed "oversupply and struggling oil prices" for falling profits during the month, with total gross operating profit (GOPPAR) dropping 13 percent year over year. Non-rooms revenue fell to $132.20, equivalent to 38.5 percent of total revenue, and contributed to an 8.2-percent decline in TRevPAR, the analysts added. HotStats noted the plummeting revenue levels were further exacerbated by rising costs, which included a 1-percentage-point increase in payroll levels as a percentage of total revenue to 23.3 percent. Having been recorded at 48.6 percent of total revenue in January 2016, it fell back to 44.5 percent this past January.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 19, 2019 21:33 UTC