London tops European hospitality

London has come out top in study into European hotel occupancy rates. The quarterly report by Deloitte proved grim reading, with revPAR rates across Europe down 19.2% over the past quarter to €58, with Glasgow and Edinburgh the only two cities to show positive occupancy growth.

London saw revPAR fall 7.6% in the year to September, but maintained the highest occupancy in Europe at 79.8%.

In the euro zone, hoteliers saw revPAR fall 16.8% as the strength of the Euro against Sterling deterred travellers to the traditional hotspots of Spain, France and Italy.

Of Europe’s top three holiday destinations, Spain was hit the hardest, due to a fall in the number of tourists from its major source markets, the UK, Germany and France. Spain has also met intensified competition from countries further east including Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. Spain’s two key cities, Barcelona and Madrid reported revPAR declines of 22.5% and 30.5% respectively.

Commenting, Alex Kyriakidis, Global Managing Partner of Tourism Hospitality & Leisure at Deloitte, said: “The past year has been one of turbulence for European hoteliers as the economic crisis has taken its toll. Soaring unemployment, the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus and the strength of the Euro against many world currencies has seriously impacted hotel performance in Europe.

“As many consumers chose the “staycation” over travelling abroad, and businesses tightened their purse strings on corporate travel - hotels, airlines and tour operators all saw a fall in performance and sales this year. Every city across the region reported declines in revPAR year-to-September, some hit more severely than others.”

In Germany, tourism is continuing to struggle due to a slowdown in trade fair business, stagnating leisure demand and an increase in hotel supply in a number of cities.

Dusseldorf saw the largest fall in revPAR, down 33.3%, while Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt and Cologne reported less severe declines.

In the non-euro zone, Prague reported some of the greatest revPAR falls year-to-September, plummeting 26.4% due to new openings during 2009, totalling more than 900 rooms, combined with a fall in the number of tourist arrivals.

Moscow’s growth decade also came to an abrupt halt this year when the economic downturn and decline in business demand drove occupancy down to 57.8%. Approximately US$60 was knocked off average room rates, resulting in a 30.5% decline in revPAR – the weakest performing city outside the euro zone. Like Prague, Moscow has seen a wave of new openings this year and according to Lodging Econometrics is one of the top five cities in Europe in terms of new hotel projects on the horizon, with eight new projects, equating to over 2,000 rooms to open next year.

Marvin Rust, Hospitality Managing Partner at Deloitte, said: “We are already seeing signs of economic recovery across Europe. Consumer confidence has started to improve as well as a number of countries including Germany, France, Greece and Portugal closing the door on the recession. It will be an uphill struggle for some months to come before hoteliers start to post positive results once more, however it looks like the worst may be over and the New Year should see a reversal of part of the revPAR declines seen in 2009.”

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Croatia plans world’s first revolving hotel

UK architect Richard Hywel Evans of Studio RHE who specialize in holiday resort design, has designed the world’s first revolving hotel which will be built on Solta, a small island off the coast of Croatia.

The £70 million project, which is yet to be named, is due to be completed within two and half years. The rotating section of the hotel will spin very slowly on a turntable constructed in steel in separate sections at the huge Split shipyards which are located directly opposite the Solta Island. The hotel will have 50 suites.

Over the course of a day the three-story high section, which is 200 ft in diameter, will rotate 1.3 times in the middle of a purpose-built swimming lake. A static central hub, which is 72 ft across, will house the reception area.

Guests will arrive in the hotel through an underground entrance to the hub before going up in a lift and then walking along a walkway to their accommodation on the spinning section.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Evans insisted the movement was so slow that guests would not be able to feel it. He said, “We believe this is a stunning example of how creative, exciting and bold design can and should be.”

The full development includes a new, 170-berth marina plus yachtclub and the resort will feature guest pavilions and villas as well as the hotel. The centrepiece hotel will be set in an infinity-edged swimming lake which cascades into a hillside spa below.