19 Apr 2005 - For the second year in a row, Venice was the best performing
market in 2004 in terms of revenue per available room (revPAR) according
to the HotelBenchmark Global Ranking Index (GRI). The GRI compares the
performance of 165 global cities outside North America on an annual basis.
When taking a look at the top 20 cities in the Global Ranking Index
in terms of revPAR, Europe dominated with 13 of its markets claiming the
honour. Two European cities - Athens and Edinburgh - appear for the first
time at positions 15 and 18 respectively. The Asia Pacific region also
dominates with five cities featuring in the top 20. Of these Sydney appears
for the first time at number 20 and Hong Kong has returned following its
absence in 2003 to gain 17th spot.
Markets in the Middle East claimed the remaining two top 20 positions,
though Kuwait City lost ground dropping from two to number five. This was
expected after the spectacular performance of the market in 2003 due to
the presence of military personnel and media during the Iraq War.
Interestingly when looking at the top 20 markets in terms of occupancy,
the Global Ranking Index paints a completely different picture, with only
five markets appearing in the top 20 for both revPAR and occupancy. Dubai
took the top occupancy GRI spot for the first time and Hong Kong, Edinburgh,
Tokyo and London joined Dubai to make appearances in both rankings.
In the occupancy Global Ranking Index Asia Pacific dominates, taking
ten spots. Increased international demand combined with ever increasing
intra-regional travel fuelled by the growth of low cost airlines, has driven
occupancy levels in the region upwards. Egypt also claimed two top spots
with Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada appearing for the first time. The recent
investment made by Egypt, Australia and New Zealand in promoting their
destinations is clearly paying off, as a number of these markets have significantly
moved up the rankings since 2000. The best improver is Sharm El-Sheikh
which has moved up 116 places since 2000 to take the number ten spot in
2004.
Commenting
on the results Julia Felton, Executive Director of HotelBenchmark at Deloitte
said: "The lacklustre performance that has held back the hotel industry
for the past three years finally came to an end in 2004, as trading conditions
improved. Dramatic increases in economic growth and international visitor
numbers gave the tourism industry a welcome boost, as travellers defied
the threat of terrorism and high oil prices. 2005 looks encouraging, as
pent-up demand continues to emerge but there are already signs that growth
is decelerating in some major economies. Its also debatable whether Venice
can keep its crown in 2005, as leisure tourists are fickle and are faced
with more options than ever before on where to spend their time and money".
Other main findings
-
Paris moved back to the number two revPAR GRI slot, despite always featuring
within the top five rankings, this is the city's best performance in the
last five years.
-
London has enjoyed a remarkable comeback ranking number four, sitting just
below its position at number three in 2000.
-
Moscow enjoyed its third year in the top 20 revPAR GRI. It has the second
highest revPAR growth of all the top 20 cities since 2000 and has increased
its ranking by five places over 2003.
-
Madrid was one of the few cities to drop out of the top 20 revPAR since
2003, though at number 24 in 2004, the city is in good position to return
in the future.
-
Tokyo is continuing to move away from the number two position achieved
in 2000 and 2001, ranking number seven in the revPAR GRI in 2004.
-
Central and South American markets have experienced the sharpest declines
in the GRI, with many cities falling over 100 places since 2000.
-
Oceania and South African markets dominated the list of the largest revPAR
growth since 2000, the ranking of markets in these regions increased substantially,
ranging from 20 to 60 spots on the revPAR GRI.
-
Middle Eastern markets have improved occupancy rankings considerably and
boast four markets in the top 20 occupancy GRI including the top two spots
- Dubai and Hurghada.
The HotelBenchmark Survey contains the largest independent source of hotel
performance data outside of North America and tracks the performance of
over 6,500 hotels and 1.2 million rooms every month.
About Deloitte
Deloitte & Touche LLP is the UK's fastest growing major professional
services firm based in 21 UK locations, with over 10,000 staff nationwide
and fee income of £1,246 million in 2003/2004. It is a member firm
of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a leading professional services organisation,
delivering world class audit, tax, consulting and corporate finance services,
with around 120,000 people in over 140 countries. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
is a Swiss Verein, and each of its national practices is a separate and
independent legal entity.
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