European hotel revenues drop 28%

Discounting hits first half revPAR

Hotel room revenues in some European cities fell by as much as 27.5% in the first half of 2009, the latest HotStats survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting has revealed.

Vienna and Prague suffered the worst year-on-year declines in revenue per available room (revPAR) in the six months to June.

In June hotels in Vienna reported a sharp drop in revPAR of 48.3% compared to last year when revenues were boosted by the Euro 2008 football tournament.

Rooms in Vienna were full last June when Austria co-hosted the championships with Switzerland.

Amsterdam and Berlin also saw declines in revPAR of more than 20% year-on-year in the first half of 2009.

London once again saw the highest occupancy at 87.3% in June and 81.1% over the first six months of the year.

But TRI said occupancy in the UK capital in June had been maintained at the expense of average room rate (ARR) which fell 7.1% year-on-year.

TRI's deputy managing director David Bailey said: "Whilst the London market experienced a decline of 7.1% in average room rate relative to June 2008, a room occupancy of 87% reflected the resilience of the market and its ability to tap into a range of demand segments.

"With the summer holidays approaching and assuming we are luckier with the weather, it is likely that London will achieve a strong performance due to the continuing weakness of the pound."

Mr Bailey said the recent outbreak of swine flu would inevitably impact the London market.

Warsaw suffered the lowest year-on-year drop in revPAR of 5.9% in the first half of the year.

ARR in Paris topped the table in June at €200.62, 20% more than London's €158.93.

But TRI said profits per room in the French capital were lower compared to London reflecting "significantly higher operating expenses."

TRI highlighted Paris' average payroll which accounted for 33.7% of the city's total hotel revenue in June 2009 compared to London at 22.3%.

www.trihc.com