Double figure growth and decline - STR
Europe's hotel markets saw both double figure growth and decline in March year-on-year, according to figures from STR Global released today (April 29).
STR said occupancy in four "key markets" had risen sharply compared to March last year. Occupancy in Cologne jumped 17.5%; in Frankfurt 16.6%; Oslo 14.3% and Stockholm 11.9%.
Tel Aviv reported the largest occupancy decrease, down 30.2% to 53.5%, followed by Salzburg at 24.4% to 43.0% and Budapest down 24.0% to 46.5.
"The annual Easter mismatch has had a positive effect on European performance but has only extended to a very limited number of markets," said STR's managing director James Chappell.
Key markets again reported large increases in revenue per available room (revPAR), STR said. Cologne fared well with a 38.9% increase to €76.59 and Frankfurt revPAR rose 26.3% to €77.85.
STR said four markets had reported revPAR decreases of more than 30%. Salzburg fell 49.3% to €33.62; Barcelona 33.5% to €55.78; Florence 32.6% to €58.27); and Moscow 32.6% to €111.14.
"Europe as a whole fell 14% in revPAR, up from the 19% drop in February, with southern Europe again bearing the brunt of the hit and dropping by over 20% in RevPAR," Mr Chappell said.
Salzburg, Moscow, Reading in the UK and Barcelona all reported falls in average daily rate of more than 20%. Tel Aviv and Cologne were the only two cities to see double figure growth of 19.8% and 18.2% respectively.
On a country basis, Germany was the only one of five key markets to see growth. Occupancy was up 6%, rates 0.7% and revPAR 6.7% to €50.60.
Up against Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, occupancy in Russia fell the furthest by 15.7% to 45.2% putting it in last place.
www.strglobal.com