JEDDAH: This month’s inaugural Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix helped drive hotel room rates to record highs in Jeddah, while occupancy was at the highest level since 2018. The average daily rate at Jeddah’s hotels on Dec. 4, one day before the race, was SR1,707.72 ($455.39), up from SR612.25 the previous week, while revenue per available room, also known as RevPAR, was SR1,517.92, both all-time highs, according to hospitality data provider STR. Occupancy peaked at 89.2 percent on the day of the race, up from 59.8 percent the previous week, the highest since August 2018, the STR data showed. “The special circumstances of Saudi Arabia hosting its first F1 Grand Prix, in between races held in Doha and Abu Dhabi, drove hotelier pricing confidence and overall performance to record-breaking levels,” said Philip Wooller, STR’s area director for Middle East & Africa. “The RevPAR level achieved the night before the race was the highest ever recorded in a Saudi market outside of Makkah, and when we compare with the weeks before the race, the need for such a boost was significant.”