COVID-19 webinar summary: 5 key points on Europe hotel performance, 30 April

Knowing you might not have time to watch our full webinars, we are pleased to continue our series of COVID-19 webinar summaries. In this latest edition, we talk performance in Europe.

Occupancy falls back in gateway cities

Compared with other major markets around the globe, gateway cities still struggling the most. In Europe, Paris (9%), Rome (9%) and Berlin (11%) reported remarkably low Q1 occupancy levels. For comparison, Singapore (63%), Miami (61%) and Dubai (60%) posted the highest occupancy levels on a total-room-inventory basis.

Better than last year’s lows

Looking at 11 April year-to-date data, key markets across Europe showed higher occupancy than the comparable period from 2020. This was mostly driven by domestic demand and lockdown restrictions starting to ease. 

Q2: What’s next?

As of 19 April, occupancy on the books and pickup for the next 14 days in Switzerland was 15% and 5%, respectively. The U.K. showed 15% occupancy on the books and 4% pick up.

Powered by Forward STAR data, the below image includes occupancy on the books and pickup for the next 14 days (as of 19 April) in key European markets, and further insights are provided in the full webinar recording. Occupancy-on-the-books intelligence will help us all understand recovery and provide much-needed context. Those insights can be accessed for free when you submit your data. If you are interested, please email sales@str.com.

Leisure demand

Due to strong leisure demand for the summer months, Spain shows higher occupancy on the books than other counties in Europe (besides the U.K. and Switzerland). Although there are still restrictions and uncertainty, we expect to see markets such as the Canary and Balearic Islands ramping up, especially over the coming weeks.

Occupancy on the books shows events impact

As of 1 March, Glasgow’s occupancy on the books was at 90% for November 2021 thanks to the UN Climate Change Conference (1-12 November), which would be a massive jump from the sub-20 and 30% levels on the books for the rest of the year. The days before and after the conference are also showing much improved occupancy levels. Thanks to its proximity to Glasgow, the Edinburgh market also shows levels of more than 30% as it captures conference overflow.

For further insights into COVID-19’s impact on global hotel performance, visit our content hub.