Occupancy and revenues during May increased year over year
in most markets worldwide, while rates were significantly up in New York and
several Asia/Pacific markets, according to data released on Friday by Smith
Travel Research. Hotels in Europe, meanwhile, had mixed results.
In the Americas, occupancy increased by 7.5 percent compared
with May 2009, and rates were nearly flat, STR reported. Rates were up
significantly in New York, where they increased by 15 percent, and in Rio de
Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Mexico City. Chicago had the largest rate decrease, down
5.2 percent.
Revenue per available room was up in all American markets
except Alberta, Canada, where it decreased by 3 percent. The largest RevPAR
increases were in Sao Paulo, up 42.9 percent, Rio de Janeiro, up 44.5 percent,
and Mexico City, up 201.3 percent.
In Europe, Birmingham, England, and Tel Aviv had the largest
rate increases, up 38.6 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively. The largest
rate decreases were in Helsinki, down 19.9 percent, and Prague, down 14.4
percent.
Besides Birmingham and Tel Aviv, three markets—Madrid,
Istanbul and Florence, Italy—had RevPAR increases higher than 25
percent. Athens, Cardiff, Wales, and Gothenburg, Sweden, meanwhile, all saw occupancy
decrease by more than 5 percent.
The Asia/Pacific region reported the largest increases in
the three key metrics, according to STR. In the region, occupancy was up by
15.3 percent, rates were up 8.6 percent and RevPAR was up 25.2 percent.
Occupancy was up in all of the region's markets, with the
exception of Bangkok. The biggest increases were Shanghai, up 55 percent, Beijing,
up 34.4 percent, and Hong Kong, up 28.7 percent. Shanghai also had the highest
rate increase, up 29.3 percent. Only four markets saw rates decrease: Bangkok,
Osaka, Japan, and Mumbai and New Delhi in India.
In the Middle East/Africa region, occupancy was nearly flat
overall in May, while rates increased by 1.3 percent and RevPAR was up 2.1
percent. Abu Dhabi fared the worst overall, with occupancy down 24.8 percent,
rates down 37 percent and RevPAR down 52.6 percent. Rate increases were the
highest in Beirut, Lebanon, up 27.4 percent, and Johannesburg, South Africa, up
19.5 percent.