August can be called a fairly positive month for hotels in France, but this success is very uneven. Many tourist destinations benefited from leisure tourists and pulled the whole market, as it is stated in the report prepared by In Extenso.
Côte d’Azur and Paris accommodations, as well as some other cities, posted the biggest growth driven mostly by leisure tourists. However, for the rest of French cities August was a complicated month. In total, the revenue per available apartment fell by 2% in July and August. July was rather damp, and this was a serious problem for hoteliers in leisure destinations. Even though some hotels posted growth of occupancy, but this mostly came as a result of the downward average daily rate.
Hotels in Côte d’Azur were in the best position. They posted higher occupancy rates and, unlike many other hotels in the country, the growth was not geared up smaller room rates. The growth of occupancy was much more significant in upscale and luxury hotels, rather than in midscale hotels despite the fact that upscale and luxury hotels posted the highest increase of average daily rates – 6-12%. The growth of RevPAR in the region was 5-6%.
Hotels in Paris also got their share of revenues from returning overseas visitors. The occupancy of upscale and luxury hotels grew by 10%. However, ADR (average daily rate) went down by almost 4%. Midscale hotels were in more serious situation, as their occupancy fell by 6%. These mixes stats make the growth of room revenues fluctuate between 2% and 4%.
Regional France suffered the most in August. Occupancy dropped in all segments, and only budget hotels managed to stabilize their rates. Relatively good performance was reached only by hotels in Le Havre, Rouen, and Lille. These northern towns benefited from repercussions of the London Olympic Games.