Parisian fairs boost the business

September was a good month for the capital, much better at least than the summer season that hoteliers faced in July and August. “It is evident that the recovery happened after a summer that disappointed many of our colleagues. This is above all true for Paris where business was more dynamic,” remarks Jean Lavergne, President of the chain InterHôtel. The recovery of business clientele, which occurred in particular around the many salons, plays an important role in this optimist observation. “This month is marked by the dynamism of the salons,” confirms Florence Gallois, Manager of the hotel Tulip Inn Eiffel Capitol in Paris. In order to translate this impression into figures, it may be observed that the occupancy rate of a sampling of properties located near the Porte de Versailles fair site southwest of Paris proper, has figures up by 4.1 points compared with the 3.1 points progression recorded in Paris and 2.5 for the Ile-de-France on the whole. Above all, these good results in terms of occupancy rate are not to the detriment of the average daily rate. In this geographic area, the average daily rate posts growth by 4.9% growth with respect to last year, whereas it reaches only 3% in Paris intra muros. In the Ile-de-France region outside Paris, average daily rates are even down with respect to the previous fiscal year. In the end, the RevPAR of our sampling sees more significant growth than Parisian properties: +11.7% versus +7.0%.But even if the results are much more enthusing than those recorded last year at the same time, this year Parisians are not seeing results similar to those of 2002. But in any case, the salon season is well off to a good start. If the many events to come, starting with Equip’hotel held from 23 to 27...