Hotel News Now each week features a news roundup from a different region of the world. This week’s compilation covers Europe.
Europe hotel performance for Q2 2016
Hotels in Europe recorded positive second-quarter 2016 results when reported in euro constant currency, according to data from STR, the parent company of Hotel News Now. Compared to Q2 2015, Europe reported nearly flat occupancy (+0.6% to 73.9%), average daily rate increased 2.1% to €114.33 ($129.40) and revenue per available room up 2.7% to €84.49 ($96.09).
France and Turkey both reported decreases in all three metrics. France—despite hosting the 2016 UEFA European Championship from 10 June to 10 July—saw occupancy fall 5.5% to 68.2%, ADR decline 7.5% to €138.43 ($156.71) and RevPAR drop 12.6% to €94.34 ($106.79). Turkey saw occupancy fall 23.9% to 51%, ADR decline 17.2% to 271.85 Turkish lira ($92.34), and RevPAR drop 37% to 138.55 Turkish lira ($47.06).
Golden Tulip key to Louvre’s future with Jin Jiang
More than 18 months have passed since Shanghai-based Jin Jiang International Hotels Group acquired French hotel company Louvre Hotels Group, and the retooled Louvre is almost like an entirely new company, Louvre’s CEO Pierre-Frédéric Roulot told HNN. Roulot added that behind the French company’s new push will be a concentration on the Chinese market and a new positioning for its Golden Tulip and Campanile brands.
“There is no true worldwide leader in the 4-star market, and it is a very important segment,” Roulot said. “The Chinese market has downgraded from the 5-star market to the 4-star market. That is now politically correct and has completely changed the market there. Our position is to have Golden Tulip be a 4-star hotel with a 5-star product. And you see that change, too, in Europe, with the economic crisis.”
Europe hotel pipeline for July 2016
The July 2016 Pipeline Report from STR shows 148,483 rooms in 966 projects under contract in Europe. The total represents a 13% increase in rooms under contract compared with July 2015.
Europe reported 63,353 rooms in 424 projects in construction for the month, which is an 18.4% increase in year-over-year comparisons. Among the region’s key markets, Greater London reported the most rooms in construction with 5,400 rooms in 32 hotels.
Arora Hotels reap rewards of new diversified model
By carefully choosing its partners, selecting key business locations with growth potential and being involved in all aspects of construction, development, ownership and management, Arora Hotels has found success, its executives told HNN.
After first entering the hotel market in 1999 with one hotel at Heathrow Airport that catered to airline crews, Kaushal Niraula, Arora’s director of strategy and new markets, said the company recently underwent financial restructuring to “improve leveraging, increase autonomy and to support the next phase of our growth.”
Motel One sees sales, EBITDA rises in first-half numbers
Germany’s Motel One hotel chain has seen encouraging earnings numbers in the first half of 2016, as sales increased 16% to €171 million ($193.7 million) and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 15% to €50 million ($56.6 million). Motel One executives said the company’s current 54-property portfolio of 54 properties will increase to 77 hotels with 22,160 keys.
Mövenpick selects new boss
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has appointed Olivier Chavy as its new CEO. Chavy, formerly president and CEO at interior architectural firm Wilson Associates, begins his role in September. Former CEO Jean-Gabriel Pérès, who announced he was leaving Mövenpick in February, has accepted the CEO position at Dubai-based hotel development and operations firm Kerzner International Holdings.
TUI resilient amid geopolitical turmoil
TUI Group revenue dropped by 5.7% to €4.6 billion ($5.2 billion) in the three months ending 30 June, according to the firm’s latest earnings report, but earnings before interest, tax and amortization increased 1.1% to €180 million ($203.8 million). TUI’s CEO Friedrich Joussen said demand remained resilient and the group was flexible and “confident of delivering at least 10% growth in underlying EBITA in 2015-16.”
Deals and developments
- Marriott International has opened its second Moxy hotel in Germany, the 176-room Moxy Frankfurt Eschborn, which is owned by Vastint Hospitality and operated as a franchise by Nordic Hospitality AS.
- The 225-room Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam, which opened on 15 August, has joined 25 17th and 18th century canal houses located on the city’s Prinsengracht canal. Formerly a part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s Luxury collection, the independent property is now affiliated with Preferred Hotels & Resorts.
- Hilton Worldwide Holdings has signed its second hotel in Lithuania, with the news that it has struck up a franchise agreement with Vičiūnai Group for the 175-room DoubleTree by Hilton Vilnius City Center, which will open in 2019.
- Madrid-based Room Mate Hotels has opened two boutique properties in Barcelona, the company’s flagship 81-room Room Mate Anna, located on the famed Passeig de Gràcia, and Room Mate Carla, an 88-room property on Calle Mallorca.
- InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a franchise agreement with Bathroad Corp Sarl for a dual-branded development close at London Heathrow Airport. The two properties in the development will be a 433-key Holiday Inn and 190-key Staybridge Suites and will open in 2018.
- IHG also has signed an agreement with developer UBM Development AG to bring a Holiday Inn to Gdansk, Poland, which will open in 2019 with 236 rooms. It will be the sixth property in Poland for IHG, and there are another six Polish assets in its pipeline.
Compiled by Terence Baker.