Despite widespread growth, Europe’s hotel industry still contrasted during first semester 2016

The latest ECM-MKG European Destinations Observatory report* points out that for the first semester of 2016, European hotels keep up the positive trend with a 0.2 point increase in Occupancy Rate and 1.3% growth in Average Daily Rate** allowing +1.6% in the RevPAR***.

Brussels and Paris most impacted by terrorism fear in first semester 2016

Brussels’ RevPAR dropped by 18.5%, mostly due to a 13.9 points decrease in occupancy rate, aftermath of attacks in March. Other European capitals, London and Berlin, were also indirectly somewhat affected by these events (respectively -3.0% and -1.7% in RevPAR), raising doubts about European security in the eyes of foreign clientele. Nevertheless, London still got the best occupancy rate in Europe. Cities like Cologne, Dresden or Hannover, in spite of a strong business activity, are on a downtown trend, while Düsseldorf, Nuremberg or Munich recorded a RevPAR increase respectively by 20.9%, 16.4% or 11%.

France regained a growth track especially thanks to the organisation of Euro 2016 (June 10 – July 10). Its RevPAR improved in almost all cities like Lille (+23.2%) or Marseille (+8.2%), but Paris is still recovering from the consequences of the November 2015 attacks with a RevPAR decrease by 13%.

… while the hotel industry keeps a positive trend in the rest of Europe

Prague had reached a strong RevPAR evolution in the first quarter, knew a worst second one, but the RevPAR remains positive with a 3.5% growth. Amsterdam was also among the frontrunners in the European landscape (+11.7% in RevPAR), as hotels benefitted from the organisation of many international medical and business events. Budapest also registered positive results, with an 8.1% increase in RevPAR due to gains in Average Daily Rate (6.8%).

Polish hoteliers benefited from the European men’s handball championships at the beginning of the year and Wroclaw being the European Capital of Culture 2016. Warsaw and Poland report increases in the RevPAR by respectively 9.8% and 7%. Austria posted a RevPAR increase by 2.3%, better result than the capital, Vienna, once again more or less stable (-0.3%). In Northern Europe, Edinburgh knew a RevPAR increase by 8%, Liverpool is on a good trend too with a RevPAR increase by 5.6%.

Finally, performance across Southern Europe continued to improve. RevPAR in Lisbon grew by 2.3%, it strongly increased in Spain with San Sebastian (+34%) sharing the title of European Capital of Culture 2016 with Wroclaw, Zaragoza (+18.4%), Valencia (+18.3%), Malaga (+17%), Barcelona (+13.4%) or Madrid (+9.8%). In Italy, only Bologna is on a positive trend, with a RevPAR increase by 9.3%, Milan who organised last year the Universal Expo can observe a decrease by almost 12%.

All ECM members have exclusive access to the complete ECM-MKG European Destinations Observatory report with all the graphs and analysis.

*ECM-MKG European Destinations Observatory report: A report produced by MKG Hospitality and released several times a year by ECM that presents the development of key performance indicators for ECM member cities.
**ADR: Average Daily Rate – room revenue divided by number of sold rooms.
***RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room – occupancy rate x average price or room revenue divided by available rooms.

**ENDS**

European Cities Marketing is a non-profit organisation improving the competitiveness and performance of leading cities of Europe by providing a platform for convention, leisure and city marketing professionals to exchange knowledge, best practice and widen their network to build new business. European Cities Marketing is promoting and linking the interests of members from more than 100 major cities in 36 countries.

Contact information
Flavie Baudot, press@europeancitiesmarketing.com, +33 380 56 02 00

Established nearly 30 years ago, MKG Group® has built a solid reputation for business expertise and substantial European-based know-how in the tourism, hotel and hospitality sector. MKG provides a unique savoir-faire in market research, consulting, financial feasibility studies, individual property and portfolio asset valuations, as well as quality control campaigns. The foundation of knowledge and resource is HotelCompSet, the largest industry database in Europe, representing all hotel segments.