Hotels across the 25-nation European Union boosted average occupancy, room rates and revenue per available room (revpar) during the month of May, claims a new report from MKG Consulting.
The survey of 6,000 chain hotels said May’s results – which followed revpar gains in March and April – showed the industry was recovering after nearly three years of slowdown.
Average revpar in May increased by 5.2% to €65.60 (£43.79) on the back of a 2.7% rise in average room rates to €94.30 (£62.95) and a 1.7 percentage point climb in occupancy to 69.5%. The biggest gains were made in the budget two-star, one-star and unstarred sectors.
In the 12 months to May 2004, average revpar declined by 0.4% to €58.50 (£39.05), with only the unstarred and one-star sector showing year-on-year gains. Average occupancy fell slightly by 0.4 percentage points to 65.1% while average room rooms edged ahead marginally by 0.3% to €89.90 (£60.01).
The picture was patchier on a country-by-country basis over the 12 months. Of the key nine countries tabled in the report, only Austria, Italy and the UK increased revpar, room rate and occupancy over this period.
Austria posted the biggest rise in revpar, which rose by 6.3% to €54.40 (£36.32). UK hotels, however, enjoyed the highest revpar of €79.80 (£53.25), a 3.5% increase year-on-year.
The steepest revpar falls were suffered by hotels in the Netherlands (where they slumped by 9.5%) and in Spain (down by 4.8%).
by Angela Frewin
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