LONDON and HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—The global economic slowdown continues to have an impact on the hotel industry, as the world’s four regions reported mixed year-over-year and year-end results when reported in U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds for December 2008 and year-end 2008, respectively, according to data compiled by STR Global.
Figures for occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room for 2008 range from single-digit losses to double-digit gains, depending on the market and the currency used for comparison.
Year-over-year highlights from key individual markets around the globe include (all monetary figures in U.S. dollars and all percentages are December 2008 vs. December 2007):
• Largest occupancy decreases: Beijing, China ( -34.9 percent); Cairo, Egypt (-21.0 percent); and Buenos Aires, Argentina (-19.1 percent). None of the 15 markets in the Key Market Index reported occupancy gains.
• Tokyo, Japan, reported the highest increase in ADR (+29.4 percent to $249.25). Tokyo was also the only city to record an increase in RevPAR (+16.7 percent).
• London reported double-digit decreases in both ADR and RevPAR, falling 26.8 percent and 29.6 percent, respectively.
• Beijing experienced the greatest drop in RevPAR (-37.5 percent to $38.04).
• Madrid, Spain, was the only city to report double-digit decreases in each of the three performance measurements. It experienced a 12.4-percent decrease in occupancy, an 11.4-percent decrease in ADR, and a 22.5-percent decrease in RevPAR.
Year-end highlights from key individual markets around the globe for 2008 include (all monetary figures in U.S. dollars and all percentages are year-end 2008 vs. year-end 2007):
• With a 20.3-percent decrease in occupancy, Beijing was the only city to report a double-digit decline in that measurement. It did, however, report the highest increase in ADR (+36.0 percent).
• London was the only city to report declines across the board and the only city to experience a drop in ADR. It had a 1.6-percent decrease in occupancy, a 3.9-percent decrease in ADR and a 5.5-percent decrease in RevPAR.
• No city reported an increase in occupancy. The city that experienced the smallest decrease in that measurement was Paris, France (-0.3 percent). It reported increases in both ADR (+12.9 percent) and RevPAR (+12.6 percent).
• Five cities reported double-digit increases in RevPAR. These cities include: Cairo (+15.6 percent); Tokyo (+13.2 percent); Paris (+12.6 percent); Buenos Aires (+10.6 percent); and Berlin, Germany (+10.5 percent).
For more information about this data, as well as market-specific data, please visit www.strglobal.com.
View Global Hotel Review for December 2008 and year-end 2008.
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About STR & STR Global:
For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research has been the recognized leader for lodging industry benchmarking and research. Smith Travel Research and STR Global offer monthly, weekly, and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 36,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 5 million rooms worldwide. STR is headquartered in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and STR Global is based in London. For more information, visit www.strglobal.com.
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