COVID-19 webinar summary: 5 key points on our Central and Eastern Europe webinar, 7 April

COVID-19 has caused hotel performance declines around the globe, and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is no exception. The region began to report occupancy declines as February came to a close, before March brought single-digit absolute levels amid lockdown measures, travel restrictions and hotel closures.

Lockdown measures introduced before COVID-19 case numbers rose

Interestingly, unlike some other regions and markets, CEE introduced lockdown measures and hotel closures sooner. By 15 March, most markets had implemented them, and this meant that occupancy declines began before the rapid growth in confirmed cases.

Occupancy declines reported throughout the CEE region

The impact of those government measures and restrictions is reflected in the latest hotel occupancy declines. In the week commencing 28 March, the majority of key CEE markets produced year-over-year decreases above 90%.

Average daily rate held on until mid-March

Significant decreases in average daily rate (ADR) came in the second half of March, with some markets even reporting growth as the month ended. However, there is some context needed around this growth, as the increase reported in Budapest was caused by a change to VAT. The Hungarian government reduced the level of hotel taxation from 18% to 5% in 2020.

As you might expect, RevPAR has also declined significantly

Daily performance data shows just how severe the declines in revenue per available room (RevPAR) were from mid-March onwards. Year-over-year decreases of 95% were common during the final period of the month, as the number of confirmed cases in the region rose.

Participate in Forward STAR and help us launch business on the books benchmarking in CEE

As Jakub Klimczak discusses in the full webinar recording, everything is in place for Forward STAR to launch in the CEE—STR simply requires participation. By sending or automating your forward data to STR, you can receive complimentary market-level data for up to 365 days in the future. The key question at the moment is when we can expect recovery, and business on the books data could be a useful indication of when that begins.

If you would like further information, please contact sales@str.com or visit our Forward STAR product page, where you can inquire and download our brochure.

Watch the full webinar recording here. For further insights into COVID-19 and its impact on hotel performance, visit our content hub.