Global Markets Show Mixed Results

-- Hotels, 10/23/2008 3:24:00 PM

LONDON and HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee — The global hotel industry recorded declining occupancy rates and mixed average daily rate and revenue per available room results for the month of September 2008, according to data from STR and STR Global. Data for reports was gathered from more than 36,150 hotels comprising 4.93 million guestrooms worldwide.

“The latest data see us following the similar pattern of the year, with occupancy levels falling as demand falls, without this translating into a drop in rates,” said James Chappell, managing director of STR Global. “Whereas at some stage this would seem inevitable, the industry seems to have learned from previous cycles that discounting in and of itself is not enough to stimulate demand and is, in most cases, counterproductive.”

Year-over-year September 2008 figures (U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds):

                           Americas                Asia/Pacific                         Europe Middle East/Africa
Occupancy        61.0 (-5.7%)           61.3 (-12.4%) 74.3                  (-4.9%) 63.0 (-5.3%)
ADR (dollars) $108.73 (+2.7%)      $134.75 (+4.4%) $165.97      (-0.6%) $141.92 (+14.3%)
ADR (euros) €75.27 (-5.7%)           €93.29 (+3.1%) €114.90         (-1.8%) €98.25 (+12.9%)
ADR (pounds) ₤59.84 (+15.7%)     ₤74.17 (+17.6%) ₤91.35         (+12.0%) ₤78.11 (+28.8%)
RevPAR (dollars) $66.32 (-3.1% )  $82.55 (-8.6%) $123.38          (-5.5%) $89.34 (+8.3%)
RevPAR (euros) €45.91 (-4.4%)     €57.15 (-9.7%) €85.41            (-6.7%) €61.85 (+6.9%)
RevPAR (pounds) ₤36.50 (+9.1%) ₤45.44 (+3.0%) ₤67.91          (+6.5%) ₤49.18 (+22.0%)

“Another point of interest is how regional the results can be, and although Europe is firmly in negative territory, many destinations continue to perform well, Berlin and Rome stand out with good growth,” Chappell added. “A more positive note is the performance of Asia Pacific and South America, both of which have been posting great growth and are so far unscathed by the banking crisis”

Key year-to-date regional market performers include (all currency figures are in euros):

• In the Americas, Buenos Aires experienced increases across the board (4.6 percent in occupancy, 0.7 percent in ADR and 5.3 percent in RevPAR); Los Angeles is down 3.2 percent in occupancy, 6.4 percent in ADR and 9.5 percent in RevPAR; New York’s occupancy is up 0.4 percent, but ADR declined 4.4 percent and RevPAR dropped 4.1 percent; and Toronto experienced drops in occupancy (-0.3 percent), ADR (-3.7 percent) and RevPAR (-4.1 percent).

• In the Asia/Pacific, Bejing’s occupancy is down 16.8 percent, but ADR is up 34.3 percent and RevPAR has increased 11.8 percent; Hong Kong’s occupancy has declined 2.5 percent, ADR is off 0.3 percent and RevPAR is down 2.8 percent; Sydney’s occupancy dropped 2.5 percent, ADR increased 0.5 percent and RevPAR fell 1.9 percent; and Tokyo has experienced a 2.9-percent decline in occupancy, a 4.5-percent increase in ADR and a 1.5-percent rise in RevPAR.

• In Europe, Berlin’s occupancy dropped 2.3 percent while ADR is up 6.7 percent and RevPAR increased 4.2 percent; London’s occupancy dipped 0.1 percent, ADR fell 8.2 percent and RevPAR declined 8.3 percent; Madrid’s occupancy declined 5.1 percent, ADR rose 3.6 percent and RevPAR fell 1.6 percent; Paris was up across the board as occupancy increased 1.6 percent, ADR rose 8.2 percent and RevPAR increased 10.0 percent; and Rome posted a
6.8-percent decrease in occupancy and a 6.0-percent fall in RevPAR while recording a 0.9-percent increase in ADR.

• In the Middle East/Africa, Cairo posted positive numbers in all three categories (+1.6 percent in occupancy, +7.5 percent in ADR and +9.2 percent in RevPAR); and Dubai fell 4.8 percent in occupancy, declined 4.2 percent in ADR and dropped 8.8 percent in RevPAR.

Year-to-date September 2008 figures (U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds):

                                 Americas              Asia/Pacific              Europe Middle East/Africa
Occupancy             63.2 (-2.8%)          65.9 (-5.8%)               66.9 (-2.4%) 70.5 (+2.4%)
ADR (dollars)       $109.62 (+4.3%)   $141.38 (+15.7%)    $166.49 (+12.6%) $153.76 (+20.4%)
ADR (euros)         €71.78 (-7.5%)      €92.64 (+2.6%)         €108.95 (0.0%) €100.57 (+6.4%)
ADR (pounds)      ₤56.40 (+7.2%)     ₤72.67 (+18.8%)       ₤85.62 (+15.8%) ₤78.89 (+23.2%)
RevPAR(dollars)  $69.26 (+1.4% )    $93.19 (+9.0%)         $111.40 (+9.9%) $108.42 (+23.2%)
RevPAR (euros)   €45.35 (-10.1%)    €61.07 (-3.3%)         €72.90 (-2.4%) €70.92 (+8.9%)
RevPAR (pounds) ₤35.63 (+4.2%)    ₤47.90 (+11.9%)      ₤57.29 (+13.0%) ₤55.63 (+26.1%)