Strong July RevPAR Growth For Hotels In Athens, Greece

Athens, Greece, came first out of the four European markets that experienced revenue per available room (RevPAR) increases of more than 15 percent in July 2014, according to data released recently by STR Global on the European hotel industry.

Like June, July was another strong month for hotels in Athens, with a 31.2 percent increase in RevPAR to 86.43 euros. The Greek capital was followed by Manchester (+22.7 percent to 67.79 euros), Copenhagen (+20.9 percent to 96.50 euros); and Frankfurt (+17.5 percent to 65.87 euros).

Meanwhile, occupancy rates in Athens rose 14 percentage points to 77.6 percent, the second city with the highest increase in occupancy after Lisbon, Portugal, which rose 15.4 percentage points in occupancy to 81.5 percent, reporting the largest increase in that metric.

In regards to average daily rates (ADR), Athens was the fourth market to achieve growth of more than 15.0 percent as the city reported a 15.1 percent increase in ADR to 111.43 percent. The Greek capital followed Manchester, England (+18.5 percent to 83.50 euros), Copenhagen, Denmark (+17.7 percent to 116.54 euros) and  Tallinn, Estonia (+16.7 percent to 85.09 euros).

“It’s is reassuring to see Athens improving from not only an occupancy perspective (+21.9 percent) but also from a RevPAR perspective (+32.1 percent) in year-to-date results,” said Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global.

On the other hand, Tel Aviv, Israel, fell 33 percent to 52.1 percent in occupancy, posting the largest decrease in that metric. The market also reported the largest RevPAR decrease, falling 35 percent to 94.69 euros.

Moscow, Russia (-11.9 percent to 102.44 euros), and Vilnius, Lithuania (-11.7 percent to 52.70 euros), reported the largest ADR decreases during July.

When referring to the European hotel industry in general, Ms. Winkle said Europe’s supply increased 0.9 percent, on a 12-month-moving-average basis. Demand is increasing at a healthy 3.2 percent.

“As a result, the region is achieving occupancy levels of 68.2 percent. In July 2014, Europe demand was over 100 million rooms sold for the second month this year,” she said.

Photos © Athens Ledra