The Canary Islands led the occupations during this quarter with 66%, followed by Malaga with 62%. As for the average price, Marbella leads the ranking with € 171, followed by the Canary Islands with € 135. As for revPAR, positions are exchanged since the Canary Islands manage to place it at € 89 and Marbella, at € 74.
In the comparison between Madrid and Barcelona, the capital registers better occupancy and RevPAR, while Barcelona has a higher ADR.
The indicators at the close of the third quarter of the Hotel Sector Barometer for Spain show that the recovery in hotel activity is picking up pace. The report, produced jointly by STR and Cushman & Wakefield, shows positive results during a first quarter whose figures, though still hampered by the consequences of the pandemic, are increasingly closer to those of 2019.
In terms of the main indicators, in 2021 Spain achieved average hotel occupancy of 51% during the first three months of the year. This represents growth of some 121% on the figure achieved during the same period the previous year and, taking into account the fact that the months of January and February were still impacted by the Omicron strain, approaches the numbers that could be considered commonplace for a first quarter prior to the pandemic. For its part, the ADR (average daily rate) stood at €104, a rise of almost 40% on the figure for the same period the previous year. Lastly, RevPAR (revenue per available room) also benefited from increased occupancy, reaching €53. This is some 209% higher than the corresponding figure during the first quarter of 2021.
The Canary Islands led the Spanish hotel market in terms of occupancy and RevPAR
The first quarter traditionally has the lowest occupancy for Spain as a whole. The exception to this is the Canary Islands, where the recovery in international air travel has enabled occupancy to reach 66%, a rise of 206% with respect to the first quarter of the previous year when the impact of the pandemic was highly significant.
Taking into account the time of year, other destinations with good occupancy figures were Malaga (62%), Alicante (60%), Seville and Cordoba (55%) and Valencia (54%). For its part, occupancy in Madrid stood at 51% whilst the same parameter in Barcelona reached 47%. The lowest occupancies during this first quarter of the year were recorded in Bilbao and the Balearic Islands.
According to César Escribano, STR’s Country Manager for Spain and Portugal, “the figures for the first quarter confirm the outlook of a staged recovery in activity, with performance varying according to destination. Destinations with a strong holiday leisure component, such as the Canary Islands and Andalusia, are currently reacting better”.
For his part, Bruno Hallé, partner and co-head of Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality Spain, considers that “this news is very positive in that we are now approaching the levels seen prior to the pandemic. In holiday destinations, 2022 could prove to be the year of full recovery whilst, little by little, we will also see a resurgence inactivity in Madrid and Barcelona, where the weight of corporate and MICE tourism is highly significant”.
The ADR amounted to €104 for Spain as a whole, one Euro higher than the figure for the same period in 2019
During the first quarter we have seen the ADR €104. This exceeds the €103 achieved in the first quarter of 2019, prior to the pandemic.
As per usual, the destination with the highest average rate was Marbella, at €171, followed by the Canary Islands on €134. The figure for Barcelona amounted to €112, whilst the average rate in Madrid was slightly lower, at €110. Amongst the cities with cheaper hotels we find Zaragoza (€58) and Bilbao (€66). The greatest increase in average rate compared to the first quarter of 2021 was recorded in Barcelona, amounting to a rise of 61%
In the opinion of Albert Grau, partner and co-head of Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality Spain, “Pricing strategies are also being impacted by inflation and energy prices. It is currently difficult to pass these price rises onto the hotel product due to the possible impact on demand. Nevertheless, it will be necessary to analyse trends over the coming months in order not to jeopardise operating returns”.
RevPAR grew by 209% during the first quarter
A recovery in revenue per available room (RevPAR) was confirmed thanks to the improvement in occupancy. With a RevPAR of €89, the Canary Islands also led in terms of this parameter, followed by Marbella at €74 and Malaga at €61. Although the first quarter is traditionally low season for the majority of destinations in Spain, RevPAR grew exponentially in comparison with the previous year in cities such as Alicante (+392%), Malaga (+293%) and Valencia (+258%).
The same trend was noted in the major cities, with RevPARs of €56 in Madrid (+200%) and €53 in Barcelona (+255%).
The Hotel Sector Barometer brings together data from 1,200 hotels and more than 150,000 rooms on the Iberian Peninsula. The study is the product of an alliance between STR, a worldwide provider of benchmarking, analytics and market knowledge specialising in the hotel sector, and Cushman & Wakefield Spain, the world leader in real estate services.
