In April, Europe Registered Its Best Monthly Performance In Nearly 5 Years | MKG Reports

• A RevPAR up by 9.8% in April 2005 versus last year
• A combined rise in occupancy rates (+3.3 points) and average daily rates (+4.5%).
• The 3* and 4* categories fully benefited from this jump, while growth in the budget categories is more timid
• Germany broke records with a RevPAR up by 22.7% in April 2005 versus 2004

The 9.8% rise in RevPAR registered in April versus last year constitutes the best performance in the European hotel industry in nearly 5 years. Indeed the calendar has been favourable to the European hotel industry: Easter fell in March this year, business tourism profited from a longer period of activity, to the benefit of hotels positioned on this segment. Everything came together to make for excellent results: a combined rise in average daily rates (+4.5%) and occupancy rates (+3.3 points). With the exception of the budget hotel sector, which largely compensated for a drop in its number of visitors by rising average daily rates, all indicators are in the black in all categories. These very good results are driven by the midmarket and upmarket segments. The 3* and 4* categories registered rises equal to or greater than 10%, while 2* hotels rose by 7.8%.

The majority of European countries follow this upward trend. Only two of them saw a negative RevPAR in April: Italy (-0.6%) which is heavily impacted by the poor results in the domestic economy, and the Czech Republic (-7.5%), which finally registered a logical drop when compared to the excellent occupancy rates registered last year (78.3%).

On the other hand, Germany experienced a month of April that will be for the record books (+22.7% in RevPAR). Numerous professional events, such as the Interpack expo in Dusseldorf, which welcomed 176,000 visitors, and a high level of activity on the seminar segment allowed some cities to reach great results such as Cologne and Düsseldorf. In addition, the trends observed in 2004 continue: the traditional markets of the United States and Japan are strengthening, and Asian customers in general are growing in number. We also note a stronger presence of tourists from the east, notably Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia.

Belgium, which began the festivities related to its 175th anniversary, also experienced a clear return to good health (+18.6%). Activity in the United Kingdom is far from weakening (+13.0%). Paradoxically, the 4.6% in growth in the French hotel industry, excellent results strictly speaking, pale in comparison to its neighbours.

However, the highest results will in the end have been registered in Northern Europe, in Sweden (+41.2% in RevPAR) and in Denmark (+55.1% in RevPAR). These rises are explained by a rise in both business and leisure customers.

This fantastic month of April has allowed Europe to post a RevPAR that grew by 3.6% over 12 months, a result that corresponds to MKG Consulting’s forecast for the year, which anticipates a rise in RevPAR of between 4% and 6%.