Sheikh's eye op puts Geneva top

A two-month stay by Saudi ruler King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz, accompanied by an entourage of 400 people, helped boost the rooms yield of hotels in Geneva last year, making it the best performing city in Europe, according to PKF's City Survey 2003.

King Fahd was in Switzerland for a cataract operation.

The presence of his entourage meant that room yield in Geneva rose by 29.5% against the previous year, to €212.43, boosted by occupancy remaining high at 70.7% (up by 1.7%) and average room rate up by 27.2% to €300.37.

Paris took second place, with rooms yield climbing by just 3.3% to €205.15, while London had to be content with third place following a dip in rooms yield of 6.2% to €178.76.

Occupancy rose in London by 2.1% to 72.7%, but at the sacrifice of average room rate, which dropped by 8.2% to €245.91.

Across Europe as a whole, occupancy fell last year by 3% to 66.8%. Average room rate, which had previously been on the rise, dipped by 1.5% to €157.40.

In the Middle East and Africa, the hotel market recovered some ground after a severe downturn in 2001. Occupancy rose by 4% to 62.3%, after a 9.4% drop the previous year.

But this good news came at a price, with the average room rate falling by 1.7% to US$91.38, compounding a 9.2% fall in 2001.