The hotel data explosion continues. STR and STR Global (respectively the parent company and sister company of HotelNewsNow.com) today released global monthly hotel results for June.
Americas: The Americas region ended June with a 4% increase in occupancy to 67.4%, average daily rate was up 3.8% to US$104.44, and revenue per available room rose 8% for the month to US$70.42, according to data compiled by STR and STR Global.
Europe: The European hotel industry posted positive results in year-over-year metrics when reported in U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds for June 2011, according to data compiled by STR Global.
“Europe continued with its solid performance for the first six months of this year,” Elizabeth Randall, managing director at STR Global, said in a statement. “Across the region we saw equal increases in occupancy and ADR, resulting in a 9% RevPAR increase. Despite the reoccurring uncertainties in the wider economic environment, European hoteliers benefitted from the continued improvement in business, (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions business) and leisure demand.”
Asia/Pacific: In year-over-year measurements, the Asia/Pacific region’s occupancy ended the month virtually flat with a 0.6% increase to 65.2%, ADR increased 13.3% to US$133.79, and RevPAR jumped 13.9% to US$87.22, according to STR Global.
Middle East/Africa: The region ended the month with a 9.7% decrease in occupancy to 54.1%, ADR fell 4.3% to US$141.10, and RevPAR ended the month with a 13.6% decrease to US$76.32.
Third-party hotel reviews on Google Maps and Google Places have disappeared, reports tnooz.
When a user accesses the sites, they will see hotel information that includes photos, address, website, etc. But the only reviews that appear now come from those who have a Google profile.
Sites like TripAdvisor have complained that reviews from their sites were appearing on Google sites without credit.
Hoards of Libyans are flooding into Italy and taking refuge in the country’s hotels, reports HotelNewsNow.com correspondent Elena L. Pasquini.
In Lombardia, a region in Northern Italy, 18 hotel properties are sheltering people coming from Lampedusa, an island to the north of the African coast. The situation is negatively impacting the hotel industry in the country, hoteliers said.
“All the hotels are crying because of the consequences of what has been the ‘occupation’ of Lampedusa,” said Mario Liberatore, deputy GM of Grand Hotel del Sole in Lampedusa. “(Our) few guests are direct guests. They tell us people in the North have in their eyes the images of Lampedusa occupied (by the migrants)”.
PKF Hospitality Research’s Robert Mandelbaum provided some insight into hotel profitability during the 15th annual National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers conference in Miami, HotelNewsNow.com’s Jason Q. Freed reports.
In the past, hotels that have cut expenses during a downturn later reinstated amenities when revenue returned. But this time, so far, he said hoteliers are convincing him that cost cutting is sustainable. From the hotels who report data to PKF, expenses in 2009 were cut by 12%. In 2010 expenses grew only 3.4%, and labor-cost growth was only 2.7%.
“Quite frankly we were a little skeptical,” Mandelbaum said. “It’s an interesting phenomenon, the remarkable ability to control labor costs in 2010.”
The GBTA Foundation has identified the U.S. markets in which travelers face the highest discriminatory travel taxes.
Discriminatory travel taxes and fees enacted on travel-related services impose an average increased cost on visitors of 56% over general sales tax, the report found. Orange County, California, is No. 1 for lowest discriminatory travel tax rate while Portland, Oregon, is tops for imposing the highest discriminatory taxes on travelers.
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner.
