Clients are coming back, Q1 hotel occupancy rate reveals

The occupancy rate of the hotels in Bucharest, one of the biggest indicators of the hotel business, witnessed an average increase rate of 5% in the first quarter of this year after having seen this indicator go down for well over a year, on a market put at 570 million euros in 2009.

“The first quarter of this year was better compared with the same time of last year. We saw a higher occupancy rate, despite the economic context that remained bad,” said Adrian Adam, sales and marketing manager of five-star Radisson Blu hotel in Bucharest.

As a result of the decline in occupancy rates and average accommodation prices, the hotel market posted about 34% drop in revenues to 570 million euros, consultant Trend Hospitality reveals.

Five-star Howard Johnson hotel, too, reported an increase by five percent to 45% of the occupancy rate in the first three months, but also posted almost 11% lower revenues.

Players on the market say that although occupancy rates were slightly higher in the first quarter, revenues were lower, because of the almost 30% price cut operated last year in order to attract business clients, who generate the highest revenues.