From the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) today announces plans to open 50 new hotels in its Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) division by 2012. And with the recent opening of the Sheraton Bratislava Hotel – along with 13 additional hotels slated to open this year – the division is firmly on track to reach this goal.
“With more than 240 hotels in 55 countries in EAME, we currently have a large enough footprint to enjoy the benefits of being an established and leading hotel operator in the most highly sought-after markets,” said Simon Turner, President of Global Development. “That being said, there are still numerous markets in this vast division where we have an opportunity to launch our nine distinct and compelling brands – as evidenced by the debut of the Sheraton brand in the Slovak Republic.” Read the rest of this entry »
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According to the latest city review by Christie + Co, using data provided by STR Global, Berlin hotels recorded a 9.3% decrease in RevPAR during 2009 compared to 2008. Despite being the city’s best ever year for tourism with 8.3 million arrivals (up 4.5% compared to the previous year) and overnight stays with 18.9million (up 6.2% compared to the previous year), room occupancy across hotels in Berlin declined by 1.2 percentage points, while average room rate (ARR) dropped by 7.6% as a result of additional supply and the global economic downturn.
20 years after the reunification of Germany, Berlin has developed into an important economic centre with many national and international companies having headquarters or representations in the city. Berlin is also home of the German government as well as many other political institutions and was listed among the top five conference and congress destinations in the world according to the ICCA city ranking. In recent years, Berlin has developed into a major city break destination, attracting a large number of national and international leisure travellers. Despite this, Berlin is still dominated by domestic trade, which generated c.60% of all overnight stays in 2009. Events, such as the athletics world championship and the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of German reunification, also contributed to an increase in overnight stays generated by international guests, which increased by 5.9% in 2009 compared to the previous year. Major foreign source markets include United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands.
Trends in Hotel Market Performance
In 2009, the occupancy rate showed a moderate decline of 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. However, the average room rate decreased by 7.6%, resulting in an overall annual RevPAR drop of 9.3%. Read the rest of this entry »
