Tentative signs of hotel recovery
Europe was the best performing hotel region in 2003 as the first signs of recovery began to be seen globally according to Deloitte and Smith Travel Research. At the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) held in Los Angeles the company reported data for the year ending 2003 which indicated recovery in some markets. Europe saw revenue per available room improve by 10% in US dollar terms. However the company said most of this was due to an increase in average room rate because of the weakness of the dollar. In the Middle East revenue per available room also increased, with a 6% increase compared to the previous year. But some regions in particular saw massive gains – in Kuwait revenue per available room jumped by 80% due to an increase in occupancy from 49% to 85%. According to Deloitte and Smith, Kuwait along with Qatar “benefited from demand from the military and journalists during the war and then subsequently from corporations involved in the rebuilding of Iraq.” Hotels across Asia fared less well because of the spring outbreak of SARS but have managed to recover. Many reported single digit occupancy at the peak of the epidemic and as a result revenue per available room fell. However a strong recovery meant overall revenue per available room was down just 2% for the year. Deloitte says the region’s hoteliers benefited by not entering into price wars – and by managing to increase average room rates by 5% they cushioned themselves from the impact of the 7% fall in demand. After reporting negative revenue per available room growth in 2002, the US fared slightly better in 2003 with growth up 0.4%. According to Deloitte and Smith: “While this is only marginal growth it may signal a period of prolonged growth.” Marvin Rust, partner for HotelBenchmark at Deloitte said: “Although the 2003 trading numbers are disappointing, we are encouraged that there are signs that a recovery is underway in some markets. However, we anticipate that it will take until 2006 before the levels of performance seen in 2000 are matched again.”
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