Among the most significant facts from the summer of 2002, the following merit particular attention:

1- The revenue per available room is now on an uptrend in Europe 

A year after the events of September 2001, the European hotel industry�s awaited rebound took place in September 2002. The occupancy rate grew by 0.7 points to 76.2%. The average daily rate gained 4.6% and the RevPAR improved by 5.6%. The last time the RevPAR progressed dates to April 2002 and one has to go back to 2001 to find similar growth.

France is the reference country with a monthly RevPAR up by 13.5%. In Belgium the RevPAR dropped by 6.6%. Brussels, in particular, did not have an exceptional September, while other European countries post particularly homogeneous increases from one country to the next: in Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom the rise in the RevPAR falls within a range from +2% to +5%. While some countries are able to compound the increase in the occupancy rate and the average daily rate (Austria, France, Italy and The Netherlands), others managed to compensate for the drop in their occupancy rate by increasing their average daily rate. Finally, it will be observed that the average daily rate drops slightly in the United Kingdom while the occupancy rate progresses by 2.2 points. Despite high occupancy rates (78.5% on average) British hotelkeepers limited the inflation of their rack rates. Nevertheless September remains a good month for Europe�s hotel industry. Despite being below performance posted until March 2001, it nonetheless enables European hotels to return to the growth track.

The categories posting the best results in September are the 4* (RevPAR up by 8%) and the 2* (RevPAR up by 7.2%). The 2* category once again confirms excellent resistance to the economic slump and the consequences of the attacks in September 2001. The 4* category, on the other hand, which had pretty much got used to indicators following a downtrend in these last months, benefited from an awaited influx of "Business" customer and the clear success of the many trade fairs held each September. 

2- France does better than all its European neighbours 

All indicators were in the green. France once again saw its RevPAR on the same level as in September 2000 (around 60 euros), which is exceptional considering the growth of the offer in budget categories. The increases posted by the segment are worthy of the best times in 1998 / 2000 with increasingly significant improvements as we rise in category. The 2% to 7% increases in the RevPAR posted for the budget categories are below the +8.5% recorded for 3* and particularly the 25.6% rebound boasted by the 4* segment ! These strong rises are the result of a double lever effect: price / occupancy. The occupancy rate grew by 1.4 points across all segments and gains up to 4.8 points in 4*. The average daily rate progressed by 11.5% on the market overall and by nearly 18% in 4*.

The fact remains that these results are above all representative of the hotel industry in the Ile de France and the Paris region in particular. Thus, we see the RevPAR gain 5.9% in the provinces, 10.9% in the Ile de France outside Paris and 26.1% in Paris. The most spoiled in Paris are 4* hotels (+36.3% for the RevPAR), but strong growth (+14.1%) may also be observed in the 3* category. 

These results do not suggest a mass return of American customers but rather the growing strength of other nationalities. They also suggest a sophistication of the commercial strategies and tools used by the vast majority of hotelkeepers. Finally, these excellent results prove the success of congresses and exhibitions that took place in the capital. The fashion trade fair (end August / beginning September) and above all the World Automobile Show (end September / October) were excellent editions.

3- A clear improvement of results in the mid-term

These good monthly results thus made it possible to see clear improvement of the trend in the mid-term. On 12 sliding months, the RevPAR lost 8.1% at end August 2002. At end September, the revenue per available room drops by only 5.7%. In 4* in particular, the situation made a distinct improvement (from -14% at end August to �10% at end September). 

The budget segments, on the other hand, continue to post constant growth from month to month and, on 12 sliding months, at the end of September, the rise in the RevPAR is around +3/4%. The budget categories confirm their insensitivity to the economic slump and the drop in international travel.

September�s uptrend should be confirmed in the fourth quarter. The months to come should corroborate with the trend that has been developing for several months: the fail proof resistance of the budget categories, a renewal of business in the mid- and upmarket categories, an occupancy rate that is either stable of that improves slightly (considering the development of the supply in particular) and an average daily rate, on the other hand, result in clear growth. Even if an eventual United States intervention in Iraq leaves a certain amount of doubt about the extent of the recovery, we can count on hotels to close the quarter with their business indicators rising. 

Methodology

This study is based on a sample of 5,000 corporate operated chains in Europe, representing 500,000 rooms. The data, gathered monthly from each hotel, is redressed according to the segmentation of the corporate operated hotel chain supply, and by the weight of each country in the European Union. 

These results come from figures supplied by the hotel chains located in France and throughout Europe, of which MKG Consulting is the official statistical supplier.