Global hotel occupancy this year is surpassing 2022 levels by 10 per cent, according to data released yesterday (September 26th 2023), by travel technology company Amadeus.
Fourth-quarter occupancy is also set to increase by about 11 per cent.
Meanwhile, fourth-quarter occupancy and revenue per available room growth in European markets is projected to outpace that of the United States — a first, according to the Amadeus report.
The report encompassed global occupancy and rate data in European, North American and Latin American regions from Amadeus' Demand360 platform.
The research included "two years of historical and one year of forward-looking on-the-books data from over 35,000 data providers," the company said. Benchmark data from 2019 was also included.
According to the report, global hotel occupancy from January 2023 through August 2023 is up nearly 10 per cent over the same period in 2022.
Worldwide occupancy levels are "becoming more predictable," according to the report, as booking patterns begin to mimic "historical trends."
STR reported similar trends in North America, as metrics in the US and Canada showed signs of stabilisation in August.
Standout Markets and Metrics
While North America and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region both are ahead of the worldwide 2023 average hotel occupancy, EMEA markets are having the standout year, with key destinations in France, Italy and Greece turning in some of the strongest numbers, thanks to cultural and special event-driven travel pulling in holidaymakers over the summer months.
But the strong performance looks to extend into autumn as well. For the October to December 2023 period, including on-the-books occupancy, EMEA is pacing 20 per cent ahead of the worldwide occupancy average.
The region's booked Q4 occupancy is 14 per cent higher than its 2022 occupancy levels, according to the report.
North America's Q4 on-the-books occupancy is pacing 5 per cent ahead of the worldwide average.
Globally, RevPAR in 2023 is up year over year thanks to strong average daily rates, according to Amadeus.
Average worldwide RevPAR is $116 this year so far, just shy of $117 in 2019 and nearly 17 per cent above $99 in 2022.
In 2023 so far, EMEA RevPAR is approximately 16 per cent above the worldwide average, the highest percentage regional increase, according to Amadeus. North America's 2023 average RevPAR is 3 per cent ahead of the worldwide average.
Group Business Strengthening
Worldwide group occupancy, which includes leisure and business groups, has averaged 12 per cent so far in 2023, consistently outpacing 2022 month over month, and building momentum over the course of the year.
"There are more groups travelling in 2023 than we saw in 2022, " report authors wrote, but added that group bookings globally are 17 per cent behind 2019 levels in 2023 so far.
Forward-looking data for group business indicates more potential. Group occupancy is expected to hit a high in October at 16 per cent before easing back to the 12 per cent annual average in November.
The sturdy autumn numbers will put hoteliers in a "stronger position to rely on group travel entering 2024 than they were in January 2023."
Yesterday we reported that Amadeus is working with Microsoft and
professional services firm Accenture to pilot a new AI-enabled digital
assistant to help business travellers using the Cytric Easy travel and
expenses platform through Microsoft Teams.