While Dubai reported a 1.3 percent drop in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to $105.53 in July, Riyadh ended the month almost flat with a 0.3-percent decrease to $113.67, the report said.

Overall, the region witnessed a 0.1 percent increase in occupancy level last month as average daily rate increased 11.8 percent to $145 and RevPAR grew 11.8 percent to $88.82.

Abu Dhabi recorded the largest occupancy decrease, falling 23 percent to 51.6 percent in July. The market also reported the largest decrease in average daily rate (ADR) of 28.1 percent at $141.54 as RevPAR fell 44.7 percent to $73.10.

Amman, the Jordan’s capital, was the only city to achieve the largest and only double-digit occupancy increase with a 14 percent rise to 68.3 percent last month, according to the report.

“The good news for the Middle East is that demand showed continued growth against last year, and the sub region still recorded one of the highest ADRs ($162) only beaten by the strong ADR in Southern Africa [$175] due to the FIFA World Cup, which ended mid-July”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.

“However, the Middle East was the only sub region reporting RevPAR declines in July. It will be interesting to see if the slowing decline will continue during the coming months. Northern and Southern Africa continued on their RevPAR recovery path, and the smooth running of a joyful World Cup will bring additional interest to the region,” said Randall.

The Asia/Pacific region’s occupancy rose 9.6 percent to 67.3 percent, average daily rate increased 11.9 percent to $124.69 and revenue per available room jumped 22.7 percent to $83.94.

“July was another good month for Asia/Pacific with an increase of more than 20 percent RevPAR, resulting from continued strong demand (+13 percent) with only moderate supply increases (+3 percent),” said Randall.

“While July was the first month this year with occupancy increases below 10 percent, which was influenced by the region’s reporting of lower drops in occupancy levels in July 2009, we would expect to see continuance of the current trend. The year-to-date RevPAR, though, is still below year-to-date 2008 results ($82 compared to $93),” said Randall.

The Americas region also witnessed a 6.9 percent rise in July occupancy to 67.9 percent, ADR went up 1.7 percent to $100.93, and RevPAR increased 8.8 percent to $68.53. Among the key markets in the region, Buenos Aries, Argentina, reported the largest occupancy increase, jumping 87.3 percent to 62.5 percent, followed by Santiago, Chile, with a 28.5-percent increase to 65.6 percent.