Hoteliers in the Middle East have shown great resilience against the economic crisis.

Hoteliers in the Middle East are outperforming the rest of the world according to data from STR Global, with the highest occupancy, average room rates and revPAR – revenue per available room – in 2009.

The figures for the 12 months to 31 December 2009 showed that occupancy reached 61.3%, with average room rates standing at US$202 (£135). However, there was a slight dip in revPAR, which fell 18.3% to $124 across the region.

Beirut and Jeddah however bucked the downward trend in revPAR with increases of 62.1 percent and 11 percent respectively, with Abu Dhabi, Amman and Jeddah showing the highest occupancy rates in the Middle East.

Alex Kyriakidis, Global Managing Partner of Tourism Hospitality and Leisure at Deloitte, said: “Hoteliers in the Middle East continue to be global leaders achieving levels of revPAR that other regions could only dream about.

“RevPAR stands $44 higher than Europe, the next best performing region.”

Despite achieving one of the highest average room rates across the region at $235, Dubai experienced the largest fall in revPAR, with a drop of 31.4%.

Kyriakidis explained the reasons behind the fall: “This drop in hotel performance represents an adjustment rather than a crash. Over the past few years, hotels in Dubai experienced fast and strong growth due to a supply shortage combined with increased interest in tourism in the burgeoning city.

“Now that supply is balancing with demand, it is only natural that hotel performance is experiences an adjustment.” Kyriakidis added that the economic downturn simply exacerbated the decline in 2009.