The Highest monthly growth for five years

Despite alarmist international news coverage, (“Is Paris burning?” asked ABC during the events, while CNN spoke freely about “French violence” in potentially dissuasive terms), clients were at role call in November. Russian clientele, for example, responded to the sacking of a motor coach full of their compatriots by cancelling a number of trips. This difficult atmosphere combined with economic growth that is still slow seemed like it would have to result in a difficult November. Not so. As predicted by MKG Consulting’s first analyses that were carried out shortly after the events. The crisis did not prevent the sector from achieving the best monthly results in five years. Hoteliers constantly reassured their clientele by telephone and ensured their safety once they arrived. And it would appear that they were heard. Thus, the impact was very limited, and above all largely compensated by other positive effects. Business clientele did not make, or at least limited, their cancellations. And leisure clientele, who are more sensitive to external events, do not represent a high volume of clientele during this period in general anyway. “The big fear was quelled quickly,” confirms Didier Le Calvez, regional manager Four Seasons France. “After mopping up a flood of cancellations for two or three days, we observed that our clients quickly put the situation into perspective. Most trips were simply postponed later in the month, making it possible to compensate for the initial loss of business.” In the end, the results had something to celebrate, with a global OR up 3.5 pts, an average daily rate up by 5.2%, a RevPar leaping by 11.3% throughout the country... How may such unexpected success be explained? In reality, a whole series of favourable factors joined forces. The business segment maintained its dynamism. In Paris in particular, the Batimat salon 2005...