The return to business is encouraging

The optimistic trend observed in August, which saw the RevPAR progress by 6.3% is not refuted in September. The revenue per available room evolves favourably (+4.0%) under the combination effect of growth in both occupancy rates and average daily rates. During this back to business month following the summer holidays, hoteliers succeeded in increasing their rates, up by 2.4% to brush 100 euros across all categories. Comparatively speaking in September 2003, occupancy was also up, by 1.2 point. Traditionally, September and October are two busy months for business tourism together with the cohort in salons and meetings held upon the return from holidays. Also, this trend shows that the economic situation is globally holding up well. Moreover, for leisure clientele, the last days of good weather offered opportunities to take long weekends.Eastern European countries also have reason to rejoice. Among the new arrivals within the EU, the Czech Republic and Hungary post RevPARs up by more than 20% for the year. For the month of September, however, Hungary posts a drop in average daily rates in order to attract tourist clientele. Poland, meanwhile, is still divided in two. A flourishing province and a capital, Warsaw, which continues to be plagued by an over-capacity that pulls average daily. “With a new upscale, 400-room hotel, the supply has grown by 20%. We have succeeded in increasing our occupancy rate by 2.5%. But at the same time, we posted a drop in the average daily rate by 10%,” remarks Bettina Haeberle, Sales manager at the hotel Hyatt Regency in Warsaw. Fortunately, Varsovie can rely on individual leisure clientele and increasingly numerous groups thanks to low costs. Elsewhere, wherein the month of September, which constitutes a month that contributes highly to the annual revenue, gives an indication of trends for the last trimester, European...