Hotels in the Asia/Pacific region experienced decreases when reported in U.S. dollars for all three key performance metrics for July 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global.

In year-over-year measurements, the Asia/Pacific region’s occupancy dropped 6.3 percent to 61.7 percent; average daily rate declined 15.9 percent to US$113.20; and revenue per available room fell 21.2 percent to US$69.83.

“Asia showed slight signs of improvement in July, with many markets falling less than the previous month”, said James Chappell, managing director of STR Global. “RevPAR growth in the region as a whole went from a 25.3-percent decrease in June to a 21.2-percent decrease in July, making the year-to-date numbers look slightly better as a result. The reason for this slight improvement was mostly due to occupancy, with levels for July down 6.3 percent, compared to a 10.8-percent decline the previous month.

“North eastern Asia, which includes China, Japan and Korea, improved from an occupancy decrease of 12.3 percent in June to 4.6-percent decrease in July, although any hopes that this will be part of a trend are liable to be wiped out in the next two months as the year-on-year effect of the Beijing Olympics is felt, which will have a huge impact on both rate and occupancy growth for not only Beijing itself, but also for other cities like Hong Kong that also hosted events”, Chappell continued. “Another interesting market to mention is Japan, one of the three countries that have apparently ‘come out’ of recession, the other two being France and Germany”, Chappell continued. “Japan as a whole improved from a 19-percent RevPAR decrease in June to a 16-percent decline in July, with Tokyo improving from a RevPAR decrease of 12.6 percent in June to a decrease of 4.3 percent in July, which might herald a return on investment of the large Japanese stimulus package”.

Among the key markets, Beijing, China, reported the only occupancy increase, jumping 12.4 percent to 54.3 percent. Brisbane, Australia, was virtually flat in occupancy for the month, dropping 0.7 percent to 83.4 percent. Bangkok, Thailand, experienced the largest drop in occupancy, decreasing 25.6 percent to 52.7 percent. Jakarta, Indonesia (-15.7 percent to 62.5 percent) and Hong Kong, China (-15.3 percent to 69.5 percent) also reported occupancy decreases of more than 15 percent.

Tokyo, Japan, posted the largest ADR increase in U.S. dollars, jumping 14.5 percent to US$216.08. Two other markets reported ADR increases for the month: Bali, Indonesia (+10.6 percent to US$138.21) and Osaka, Japan (+3.5 percent to US$112.61). Three markets experienced ADR decreases of more than 30 percent: Mumbai, India (-35.4 percent to US$166.68); New Delhi, India (-33.2 percent to US$152.37); and Beijing (-30.5 to US$87.62).

Tokyo reported the largest RevPAR increase, up 8.5 percent to US$154.63, followed by Bali with a 4.9-percent increase to US$112.74. Four markets posted RevPAR decreases of 30 percent or more: Mumbai (-39.6 percent to US$92.03); New Delhi (-38.7 percent to US$92.92); Bangkok (-35.9 percent to US$46.07); and Sydney, Australia (-30.0 percent to US$98.80).

Performances of key countries in July (all monetary units in local currency):
Country Occupancy % change ADR % change RevPAR % change
Australia 72.0% -5.3% AUD158.15 -8.0% AUD113.91 -12.9%
China 54.9% -1.4% CNY637.60 -17.9% CNY350.32 -19.1%
India 53.3% -7.3% INR5875.65 -25.5% IN3130.63 -30.9%
Japan 69.7% -7.6% JPY13625.43 -9.9% JPY9490.45 -16.7%
Singapore 77.2% -3.7% SGD226.15 -23.6% SGD174.66 -26.4%

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