
Data from MKG Hospitality shows that one of Europe’s largest events in the MICE industry was not so successful for the hospitality industry in Vienna, as RevPAR goes down to -16.5%.
The European Society of Radiology held its annual congress from 1 – 5 March 2012 in the Austrian capital. Organizers reported 20,023 participants present at this year’s edition, a slight 100 people less than last year. However, indexes show that hoteliers had a difficult time meeting last year’s results, as data from MKG Hospitality demonstrates. Growth in Occupancy Rates (OR) were in the red for the entire period, averaging -7.3% for the time that the congress took place, with Friday and Saturday faring the worst. Average Daily Rates (ADR) were very worrying as hoteliers resorted to reducing their rates by -8.8% (compared to last year’s event) to attract guests. Consequently, RevPAR is not as good as what Vienna is used to, reaching a -16.5% growth rate.Industry experts report to Hospitality-on that there was a lack of confidence in the event’s pre-booking system which might have lead hoteliers and revenue managers to worry and slash their rates. Furthermore, others report a growing trend where MICE participants want to have the freedom of last-minute cancellation, so they don’t reserve in advance, leading to negative growth in ADR rates.
