But drop in revPAR slowing
Chain hotels across Europe suffered a drop in revenues in August year-on-year, the latest HotStats survey from TRI Hospitality Consulting has shown.
TRI found that seven out of ten cities surveyed saw declines in revenue per available room (revPAR) last month when compared to the same period in 2008.
Nine out of ten key European cities also reported falls in average room rates (ARR) and all but Berlin saw profitability drop.
But TRI said the rate of decline in August was slower than over the previous eight months.
David Bailey, TRI's managing director, said: "In terms of recovery, July was clearly a more positive month than August for European hotel markets and whilst we remain optimistic that the worst of the declines have already occurred, recovery will be gradual."
TRI said the German market had experienced significant declines in August with revPAR in Munich down 30.3% year-on-year.
Hotel demand in Munich was relatively high in August last year when the city hosted the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
The Congress moved to Barcelona this year causing a relative decline in Munich's hotel performance levels.
The Viennese tourist board reported a decline in visitors from the UK, Spain, Russia and France in August but an increase from Germany, Italy and the US.
Prague experienced the worst decline in revPAR over the first eight months of the year, down 24.7% year-on-year.
Mr Bailey said: "Recovery in markets such as Budapest, Prague and Vienna is likely to be mixed as hotel demand is dependent on a recovery in the domestic economy as well as key source markets."
TRI said Prague was suffering from a decline in demand from international visitors coupled with several large hotel openings in recent years.
London was the only city not to report a double digit drop in room profits in the eight months to August due to "surprisingly buoyant performance" and "tight" cost control.
www.trihc.com