HotStats European Chain Hotels Market Review – February 2015

In February, Budapest and Warsaw hotels registered impressive surges in gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) of 78.5% and 54.1% respectively, according to the latest data from HotStats.

February was another strong month in Budapest with demand shooting up by 5.6 percentage points and average room rate (ARR) climbing by 9.2%; revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew by 19.9% to €52.59. A closer look at the segmentation for the month demonstrates that all segment rates increased, with Residential Conference rate taking the lead (accounting for 17.5% of the business mix) and rising by 17.3%. Similar performances were registered in non-rooms departments and total revenue per available room (TRevPAR) went up by 19.4%. Astute operating cost control and a noteworthy decrease in payroll (-5.1 percentage points) resulted in departmental operating profit per available room (DOPPAR) surging by 26.1% and GOPPAR by 78.5% compared to the same period last year.

Warsaw also forged ahead recording a 19.3% uplift in RevPAR thanks to a 7.1 percentage point increase in occupancy combined with a 7.9% growth in ARR, most notably fuelled by a 10.3% surge in the B.A.R segment rate. Additional revenue per available room from meeting room hire (+34.1%), beverage (+30.5%) and food (+30.0%) enhanced TRevPAR levels by 21.6% to €110.66. Despite overheads per available room climbing by 8.7%, a 4.6 percentage point decrease in payroll combined with efficient operating cost control helped to deliver a DOPPAR and GOPPAR growth of 31.1% and 54.1% respectively.

Challenging month for Dusseldorf and Istanbul

Dusseldorf hotels registered negative year-on-year comparisons across all key performance indicators for the month of February. Both occupancy and ARR declined by 6.1 percentage points and 16.4% respectively to deliver a RevPAR drop of 23.5%. A closer look into the rooms department shows a 7.0% increase in travel agency commission per occupied room compared to the same period last year. Similar movements were recorded in non-rooms revenues with the exception of meeting room hire per available room surging by 26.5%, thus TRevPAR decreased by 18.7% to €147.11. With payroll going up by a 6.3 percentage points, DOPPAR fell by 27.1% to €80.83 thereby contributing to a GOPPAR decline of 39.9% to €43.56.

On the other hand, Istanbul hoteliers experienced growth in demand (+4.3 percentage points) at the expense of ARR going down by -11.7% in the month of February, resulting in a RevPAR drop of 5.4%. However, positive movements in non-rooms departments softened the TRevPAR decline to 0.5%. With payroll rising by 2.5 percentage points, DOPPAR decreased by 3.5% to €62.97, and GOPPAR fell sharply by 20.5% to €21.44, representing a profit conversion of 18.8% down from 23.5% compared to the same period last year.

Baffling indicators in Frankfurt

In February, Frankfurt hoteliers boosted ARR by 5.6% thus occupancy only went up marginally, which resulted in a RevPAR uplift of 5.7% to €117.51. However, a general decrease in non-rooms revenue per available room from meeting room hire (-31.7%), beverage (-6.2%) and food (-5.4%) led to a TRevPAR drop of 0.5% to €164.53. Nevertheless, a 1.0 percentage point increase in payroll combined with a 2.9% surge in overheads per available room did not dilute the top-line gains from the rooms department, and GOPPAR grew by 5.8% to €56.48 compared to February 2014.

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