MKG Consulting foresaw it, French hotels posted a RevPAR up by 6.9% for the year to end December. These excellent results constitute the logical result with regard to the continuous progress results have made throughout the year.

From 0* to 3* results are relatively homogenous with a RevPAR up by around 4%. Average daily rates are the main lever for growth (up by 3% to 5% depending on the category). Occupancy rates are stable or up slightly and thus offer growth potential. In 3*, Increases in average daily rates may be attributed to better management of customer mixes thereby allowing for an overall increase in revenue per available room. 

In 4*, results are exceptional: the occupancy rate for 2006 leapt by more than 4 points over 2005, average daily rates by more than 4%. The RevPAR rose by 11.1% for the best annual performance since 1999! 

An exceptional year-end

The month of December met all hopes: the occupancy rate was up by 2 points, average daily rates rose by more than 6% for a final double-digit increase in the RevPAR (+ 10.4%). 

In Paris, the year-end holiday period gave an extra boost to business in December. Traditionally family oriented, Christmas Eve�s occupancy rate was low (around 45%), although this level of occupancy is up by nearly 6 points overall (for the period from December 22 to 24) over the same period last year. 

Inversely, the tourist appeal of Paris at the end of the year for foreign clientele generally contributed to the excellent results in December. The capital flirted with over-flowing for New Years with relatively stable rates. The results are spectacular with an increase in the RevPAR by more than 22% for the cumulated 3 days (from December 29 to 31). Such figures offer hope for a promising beginning to the year 2007�

* These preliminary results from the database at MKG Consulting are based on performance data available at the end of December 2006 that were collected by MKG Consulting�s daily statistics observatory Hotelcompset. This data will be updated upon reception of the definitive results from hotel chains for December 2006.

Methodology
Created in 1985 by Georges Panayotis, MKG Consulting is the European leader in consulting for the hotel, tourism and restaurant sector and has the largest hotel database in the world outside the United States, with good representation of all hotel segments. The monthly observatory of MKG Consulting�s Database is based on a sample of 10,000 corporate chain hotels, accounting for 1,000,000 rooms (the sample grew by more than 10% in 2005). 

Since September 2004, MKG Consulting�s Database offers a program that makes it possible to monitor activity indicators hotel by hotel on a daily basis. This program has grown from 200 participants when it was first launched to 1,500 hotels and 125,000 rooms in France making it the largest daily statistics observatory in Europe.