April 2006 reported strong growth over last year. Occupancy was up on budget segments (by nearly 4 points in 1* and 2* in particular), and upscale continued to do well without even needing to lower its average daily rate (+2.4%), leading to fine growth for its RevPar (+10.6%). Most of all: the good results were not limited to the capital, but were harmoniously distributed throughout the entire territory, including in regions that had not been so successful as of late. Lille, for example, reported a spectacular +9.8% breakthrough for its revenue per available room, at last breaking out of the decline it has been in since the success of the Cultural Capital of Europe year in 2004. A majority of regions post double-digit growth for their RevPar. The shift of the spring holidays to April benefited shoreline destinations, which hosted an encouraging volume of French and foreign tourists with Easter weekend as a high point. But the calendar was double-edged because regions that rely mostly on business tourism suffered. Lyon thus lost 12.9% of its RevPar. “There were no congresses during this period unlike in April 2005 which made a fine show in this regard,” explains Joël Blanchard, Accommodations manager at the Grand Hôtel Mercure in Lyon. “The fact that the entire spring holiday was in April for all three zones of académies in France made the phenomenon even worse.” But while this difference explains April’s drop, Lyon’s bad results would appear to be the result of an even broader trend, because, as Joël Blanchard remarks, “the first quarter 2006 shows an overall downtrend.” Marseille is another one of the rare cities with a drop this April. Once again the cause may be found in the lack of major professional events that pulled indicators down. “The JNLF [Journées de Neurologie...