French Hotel Industry Performances - November 2013
November, Paris pulls up the market
November was a difficult month for the French hotel industry, as performances generally stagnated. Indeed, without the presence of Paris and a number of dynamic destinations, the month's results would have been even more disheartening: hotel performance in regional France, the Côte d'Azur and most large cities was down on last year. Traditionally, November is a quiet month for the hotel industry, and the morose economic situation didn't help.
The timing of the school holidays (All Saints) had to some extent penalised hotel activity in October, and it wouldn‟t have been unreasonable to expect a better month for hoteliers in November. However, as so often the case in 2013, hopes were dashed, as clients did not, in fact, put off their trips until November.
Compared to 2012, French hotel industry performances generally stagnated in November, although there were a couple of exceptions : the Luxury segment, where rooms revenue grew, and the Super-budget segment, whose RevPAR declined by over 3%. Rooms revenue in other segments evolved between -0.5% and +1%.
Traditionally calm, November was even quieter this year. Without the Parisian market and several leading destinations to pull the market up, the sector would have been in an even greater deficit. Indeed, the regions, the Côte d‟Azur and most large cities posted results largely down on 2012. Trading was damaged by the ongoing morose economy, exacerbated by the fact that the end of the year is generally a quiet time for most French destinations.
Paris and a number of other destinations were the exception to this rather somber picture. The Capital recorded higher rooms revenue in almost all segments. The Luxury segment saw a rise in occupancy, with average room rates being the driver in other categories. Marseille, Le Havre and Montpellier all benefited from a dynamic market, relying on a busy cultural, sporting or business calendar.
2013 isn‟t over yet, but we aren‟t likely to see much of a change in December. At the time of writing, our forecasts presented at the beginning of the year have unfortunately come to pass: 2013 will go down as a "year of stagnation", where only the Luxury segment came out unscathed.
