Like in most other countries around the world, Saudi Arabia’s travel and tourism sector has been hit hard by the Coronavirus as governments continue to introduce measures to slow its spread. A recent report by Collier’s International highlights the severity of the impact.
The continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic “has led to market wide drops in performance,” Collier’s notes, “although, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is expected to benefit from its large domestic market and initiatives such as Summer Seasons, on its road to recovery. The industrial hub, Dammam/Khobar has been least affected by the pandemic, with a decline of 4% and 2% y-o-y in occupancy and ADR for H1 2020.”
Based on Colliers MENA Hotel Market Survey results, the forecast assumes the recovery in the hotel sector to start in Q4 2020 and continue in 2021.
Source: Collier’s International.
For Saudi Arabia, “once the expected recovery begins in Q4 2020, the markets are expected to continue benefiting from the on-going tourism initiatives, upcoming mega projects as well as domestic tourism,” Collier’s said.
The Saudi Summer initiative started on 25th June and will last till 30th September. The initiative includes 10 cities across the Kingdom, offering variety of experiences highlighting mountains, beaches and historic sights.
Mecca was the hardest hit market, Collier’s said. Commercial hubs, such as Riyadh and Dammam/Khobar, have fared better than leisure driven markets in H1 2020. Both occupancy and ADR recorded single digit declines compared to H1 2019.
[Click here to read the full quarterly report from Collier’s International]
