Hotel occupancy and revenues should be driven this year by resilient European economies, continued popularity of Mediterranean destinations and Europe’s importance for business travellers, a new study predicts.
While security concerns saw mixed fortunes for some city destinations in 2016, overall it was another record year for European tourism with 12 million more visitors and a total of 2.8 billion nights spent in tourist accommodation, according to the latest PwC European Cities Hotel Forecast.
An influx of tourists from the US and a booming Asia should drive hotel trading in 2017, with the majority of key city destinations likely to see continued growth.
The majority of cities, with the exception of Geneva and Zurich, are expected to achieve revenue growth in 2017 and almost all cities should see additional growth in 2018.
Measured by revenue per available room (revpar), Porto tops the 2017 growth table with a 14.8% growth forecast, followed by Dublin (8.7%), Budapest (6.8%), Madrid (5.9%), Lisbon (5.6%), Prague (5.5), Barcelona (5.4%), Frankfurt (4.5%) and Paris (3.6%).
Looking to 2018, in local currency, Porto is forecast to maintain its double digit revenue growth at 12.8%, followed by Budapest (9.9%), Madrid (8.2%), Dublin (7.4%), Lisbon (6.8%), Paris (5.8%), Barcelona (5.2%), Berlin (3.1%) and Frankfurt (3%).
Growth is being driven by continued economic growth and travel demand with the UN World Tourism Organisation forecasting a 2%-3% rise in global tourism for 2017.
