World events hit hotel occupancy across Europe
The economic and political turbulence of last year meant that average hotel occupancy in Europe fell below 70% for the first time in more than a decade, according to the latest City Survey from consultant PKF.
The survey, due to be published next week (9 July), will show that in income per available hotel bedroom (rooms yield), London fell by 17%, more than any other city in Europe.
Melvin Gold, managing director of the hotel consultancy section of PKF, said: "The more international cities, in general, got hit harder… London is a very international city and wasn't viewed as particularly safe after 11 September. It also depended on business from long-haul markets and, even before 11 September, was hit by the US economic downturn and foot-and-mouth."
Despite the sharp fall in percentage terms, the underlying muscularity of London hotels was shown in that its average achieved room rate, at just short of €250 (£161.50), was still second only to Paris in Europe.
Gold said: "Room rate is dictating who is doing better. London has dropped 6% in room rate, and others have increased, but London is still way ahead of them." At the other end of the spectrum, Moscow's hotels saw bedroom yield surge by more than 20%, but in absolute terms still achieved only €99 (£64) against €177 (£114) in London.
The top cities in Europe for occupancy were Stockholm, Amsterdam, Manchester, Copenhagen and Zurich, all of which achieved more than 75%. The bottom five were St Petersburg, Warsaw, Istanbul, Moscow and Budapest, of which only Budapest passed 60%. But even the cities where hotels were fullest in 2001 were not as full as they were in 2000.
"The cities at the top were there by virtue of others falling more," said Gold. Barcelona had its first fall in rooms yield for several years, only just making the European average of €110 (£71).
The PKF survey covers 30 European cities and, in a separate section, looks at hotels in 19 cities in Africa and the Middle East, where some of the statistics showed an even starker reflection of world events than in Europe.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 4 - 10 July 2002
