The hotels of Norway scored a double digit occupancy increase according to the Hotel Performance Results released by STR Global. The Norwegian hotels scored a 14.3% increase, taking the toll to 63%, in terms of occupancy rates during March 2009 according to the report released for the Americas, Asia/ Pacific, Europe & Middle East/ Africa.

“The annual Easter mismatch has had a positive effect on European performance but has only extended to a very limited number of markets,” said James Chappell, managing director of STR Global. “Europe as a whole fell 14 percent in RevPAR, up from the 19 percent drop in February, with southern Europe again bearing the brunt of the hit and dropping by over 20 percent in RevPAR.

“Outside of southern Europe, other Markets fared far better, with the United Kingdom falling in RevPAR only 6 percent compared to February’s decrease of 10 percent,” Chappell continued. “Scandinavia was 21 percent positive in RevPAR, and Germany was up by 6.7 percent in RevPAR. There is huge concern over Spain and Italy, which fell in RevPAR by 26 percent and 15 percent, respectively, as the Easter effect will be reversed next month. I think we can look forward to some eye-watering numbers in April in those markets.”

The European hotel industry has been reported as mixed year-over-year results when reported in U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds for March 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global.

 

 

About STR Global

For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research (STR) has been the recognized leader for lodging industry benchmarking and research. Smith Travel Research and STR Global offer monthly, weekly, and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 36,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 5 million rooms worldwide. STR is headquartered in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and STR Global is based in London. For more information, visit www.strglobal.com.