At the end of an Olympic year that put them in the spotlight, not all French hoteliers benefited from the winds that carried the sector into 2024. In the first edition of their new monthly barometer, Business Immo and STR detail the operating performance of the French hotel industry over the past year.
The French hotel industry had "a very eventful year", but "the results are still very mixed", observes Christina Choueifaty, Senior Account Manager at STR. Where Paris saw its RevPAR rise by just 2.6% over the past 12 months, to €257.11, disposable income per room climbed by 8.8% in the rest of the Paris region, to €101.85.
Similarly, some regional markets fared better than others. While the Provence-Alpes (+12.5%) and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (+4.8%) regions saw their disposable incomes per room climb to €163.91 and €88.38 respectively, the Pays de la Loire and Centre (-3.4%), Bretagne and Normandie (-1.6) regions reported RevPAR declines.
"Some regions hosting Rugby World Cup matches in 2023 saw their business decline, distorting annual comparisons, notes Christina Choueifaty. The Atlantic seaboard also suffered from unfavorable weather in 2024.
closer look at the Paris region reveals an equally contrasting picture. Some sub-markets are seeing interesting growth in RevPAR - Louvre/Marais (+5.5%) , Champs-Élysées (+4.4%) , Opéra/Grands Boulevards (+3.4%) -, while others are seeing a significant decline in operating performance - Montmartre/Batignolles (-4.2%) ; Paris Sud (-8.8%).
"The Olympic Games and the Christmas vacations were particularly profitable for Paris, with a sharp rise in visitor numbers for both periods, but less so for the rest of the year," explains Christina Choueifaty. However, some Parisian hotels managed to get by and maintain their RevPAR through a slight increase in prices.
a European scale, focusing on RevPAR growth alone might lead one to believe that Paris has lagged behind other continental metropolises. After all, the 2.6% increase observed in the French capital seems quite timid compared to Madrid and Athens' +19%, Prague's +16.7% or Edinburgh's +12.5%.
It is important to point out, however, that Paris' RevPAR of €257.11 is the highest in Europe. Far behind the City of Light, London (€187.30), Zurich (€173.86), Rome (€172.38) and Athens (€161.10) complete the European top 5.
analysis of national operating performance also reveals that the 4.8% increase in revenue per available room observed in France places the country in the middle of the pack: well behind countries such as the Czech Republic (+14.9%), Greece (+14.8%), Spain (+11.5%) and Hungary (+11.5), but ahead of Northern European countries such as the Netherlands (-0.4%), Ireland (+0.3%), Belgium (+2.4%) and the UK (+2.6%).
Even so, if France's RevPAR (€120.90) doesn't allow it to finish 2024 on the top step of the European podium, as its capital did, France is nevertheless only beaten in this respect by Switzerland (€170.89), Greece (€157.37), Italy (€154.32) and Ireland (€132.86).
these indicators show that the French hotel industry has nothing to be ashamed of in 2024. Operational performance is all the more encouraging given that, in January, Paris posted a 3.5% increase in projected bookings over the next three months compared to the same period in 2024. The French capital is second only to Kiev (+5.7%), Vienna (+4.6%) and Copenhagen (+4.2%) in this respect.
"Christina Choueifaty concludes: "Although the balance sheet for 2024 shows signs of growth in certain zones and market segments, we need to remain cautious to ensure long-term attractiveness, above all to maintain French competitiveness in the face of robust European competitors. The challenge is to coherently integrate technological innovation, sustainable practices and a high degree of adaptability to stand out from the competition.