More growth forecasted for Canadian hotel industry
Canada's hotel industry is projected to report further performance growth through 2018, according to a quarterly forecast report from STRand Tourism Economics.Canada reported a 5.5% increase (Canadian dollars) in revenue per available room during the first quarter of 2017. Growth was driven equally by occupancy (+2.7%) and average daily rate (+2.7%). For the remainder of the year, STR and Tourism economics project RevPAR increases of 5.0% (Q2), 2.7% (Q3) and 4.2% (Q4). "Canada has really only seen three periods with significant performance declines during the past 25 years," Owoo said. "Ever since the last downturn, demand in the country has largely outgrown supply, which has yielded relatively sustained increases in occupancy and six straight years with RevPAR growth." The top three room-revenue-generating markets in the country are each expected to record RevPAR growth between 5% and 10% for total-year 2017. Last year, Toronto contributed the highest share (11.1%) of room revenue in the country, followed byVancouver (8.4%) and Montreal (7.3%). During Q1 2017, Montreal posted RevPAR growth of 13.5%, driven primarily by an 8.9% surge in occupancy. RevPAR growth was lower than forecasted in Toronto (+6.9%) and Vancouver (+5.4%).