Worldwide briefing

France heads list

Revenue per available room (revpar) across Europe increased by almost 8% in October, according to the latest statistics from consultant MKG. Southern Europe recorded more pronounced increases than northern Europe. France had a particularly strong October, with revpar up by 16.7% over the same month in 2001.

Wyndham sells more

Hotel group Wyndham International has sold its 463-bedroom Warner Center Marriott hotel in California to Warner Center Hotel Partners for about US$69.5m (£44m). The sale comes on the heels of the disposal of 11 hotels to Westbrook Hotel Partners for US$345m (£218.5m). Proceeds from the sales will be used to repay debt.

Danubius warning

Hungarian hotel group Danubius said it expects to record a 4% drop in occupancy in 2002, despite increasing capacity by 30%.

A little more yummy

USA-based restaurant company Yum! Brands reported that turnover at its restaurants that have been open for more than one year increased by 1% in the four weeks to 30 November. Sales increased by 6% at its Taco Bell restaurants and by 1% at Pizza Hut, but fell by 4% at KFC. Credit was due to a later Thanksgiving holiday. Barring this, sales fell by 1%.

Serb numbers up

Tourist numbers to Serbia increased by 5% in the 10 months to October, to 1.9 million people, reports the Serbian Tourist Association. Foreign tourist numbers rose by 26% to 262,000.