Euro 2004 – what was the score for hoteliers? | Deloitte Reports
Despite being knocked out in the final, Euro 2004 was deemed to be a huge success for the host nation Portugal. Over half a million people are reported to have visited the country during the three week tournament, some 210,000 visitors more than usual. Not surprisingly the influx of football fans had a marked impact on hotel performance across the country.
Despite being knocked out in the final, Euro 2004 was deemed to be a huge success for the host nation Portugal. Over half a million people are reported to have visited the country during the three week tournament, some 210,000 visitors more than usual. Not surprisingly the influx of football fans had a marked impact on hotel performance across the country. Latest preliminary figures for June from the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte show that Lisbon hoteliers saw revenue per available room (revPAR) increase by a massive 105 percent compared to June 2003. At €152, this is the highest Lisbon’s hotel performance has ever been in the history of the HotelBenchmark Survey.
Whilst hotels in Portugal’s hosting cities saw an increase in demand during Euro 2004, hotels in many resort markets saw the reverse. For example, hoteliers in the Algarve reported a decline in occupancy of eight percent during June 2004 compared to previous year. Many traditional tourists were discouraged from travelling during the championships on the assumption that hotels would be fully booked and prices would be at a premium. This trend is also being seen in resort areas across Greece in the run up to the Olympics, where advanced bookings are significantly lower than in previous years.
Portugal’s hotel performance – June 2004
Occupancy |
Average room rate |
RevPAR |
||||
% |
% Change |
€ |
% Change |
€ |
% Change |
|
| Lisbon | 76 |
18 |
201 |
74 |
152 |
105 |
| Algarve | 76 |
-8 |
209 |
37 |
158 |
26 |
In terms of overall economic impact, latest figures suggest that Euro 2004 generated €112 million in tourism revenues. This is expected to contribute 0.08 percent to Portugal’s gross domestic product in 2004. Whilst on the face of things this may seem low, it is not unusual. Both Belgium and the Netherlands who hosted Euro 2000 and the UK who hosted Euro 1996 also saw limited economic growth as a result of the championships.
Many however expect Portugal to reap the rewards in the long-term. UEFA expects the Portuguese tourism industry to generate €179 - €357 million over the coming years from hosting Euro 2004. This is particularly good news, given that over recent years visitor numbers to Portugal have dwindled. The publicity from the football championships plus the government’s new tourism strategy, embarked on at the beginning of the year, should both help raise the country’s profile and have a positive impact on hotel performance. This is likely to be a welcome relief for the country’s capital, Lisbon, which historically has amongst the lowest occupancy and average room rates in the euro-zone area.
The HotelBenchmark Survey contains the largest independent source of hotel performance data outside of North America and tracks the performance of over 6,000 hotels and 1.2 million rooms every month. Monthly surveys are produced on the following areas:
- Four regional rate and occupancy surveys covering Asia-Pacific, Central and South America, Europe and the Middle East & Africa.
- Eight country/city rate and occupancy surveys for Australia, Belgium & the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, UK and London.
- Profitability surveys on Germany and London.
- On an annual basis we produce profitability surveys tracking performance across all regions of the world.
For further information on the UK edition of the HotelBenchmark Survey please contact Mikael Sundaeus on +44 (0) 20 7007 1445.