A July full of contrast for Europe’s hotels

Whereas the month of July 2003 proved to be very mediocre for hotels belonging to European chains (a drop in occupancy rates by 0.9 point and average daily rates by 4.1% led to a 5.4% slump in the RevPAR with respect to 2002), sector professionals undoubtedly reckoned upon a more straightforward recovery for the beginning of the summer season 2004. Results from the month of July show improvement in the RevPAR by 1.7%, which contrasts with the 5.6% growth recorded in June but nonetheless indicates business is returning to normal levels.Results by country suggest that the situations are very heterogeneous. The major traditional tourist destinations of France, Spain and Italy were not in fine fettle at the beginning of the season. Their RevPARs were down respectively by 1.1%, 8.5% and 1.4%. They are even the only countries in the European Union that posted drops in occupancy rate in July. There are several reasons for this. Spain’s offer grew significantly in recent years. In France, the climate was not very appealing along the shore, while some holiday goers feared a heat wave like the one that ravaged the country last year. Supply markets did not provide the volumes of clientele expected. This is the case for American clientele, as we saw. It is also the case for European clientele. The lifelessness of Germany’s economy in particular incited German holidaygoers to favour less expensive destinations in Eastern Europe or in the Mediterranean (Croatia, Maghreb). The appearance of new destinations that entered into competition with the major tourist countries is clear. The United Kingdom, Nordic countries as well as countries in Eastern Europe came out with very significant growth in their RevPARs thanks to the sustained evolutions in their occupancy rates. Mr Yanev, General Manager of the hotel Quality Inn Hampstead in London...