April sees double-digit slumps
European hotel room rates, occupancy and revenues almost halved in some cities, the latest STR Global figures for April have revealed.
Dusseldorf, typically a business destination, suffered the worst year-on-year declines compared to other major European cities, the research company said.
Occupancy in the German industrial city fell 31.8% to 47.6% while average daily rate (ADR) was down 46.5% to €79.85. Revenue per available room (revPAR) dropped 63.5% to €38.05.
Overall Germany, hit hard by a recession that deepened in April, saw the second worst declines of five "key" European countries.
STR's other key countries were Russia, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Russia was the only country to fare worse than Germany. Occupancy, ADR and revPAR fell 20.8%, 19.5% and 36.2% respectively.
Spain and the UK were the only countries to see single-digit declines in ADR, at 9.7% and 8% respectively.
STR's managing director James Chappell said the figures were better than expected and hinted at a possible end to the industry slump.
"Because we did not see a year-over-year rebound in March (Easter occurred in March last year), we expected the numbers to be worse," he said.
"Italy and Spain reported similar revPAR declines as in March, which is a good sign of possible stabilisation.
"Other countries like Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, however, reported higher declines this month as expected."
Edinburgh saw the largest growth in occupancy, STR said. The Scottish capital reported growth of 7.3% to 76.8%.
www.strglobal.com