Hotel rates in the Asia Pacific region declined in the first quarter of the year.
Following a 4.1% drop in 2013, the region’s average daily rate (ADR) continued to sink in the first quarter of 2014, dropping 3.6% to US$122.36. Occupancy climbed 0.7% to 66.0%, but this wasn’t enough to prevent the region’s revenue per available room (revPAR) falling 2.9% to US$80.81.
The downturn in ADR was particularly sharp in Central & South Asia (-11.3% to US$137.87) and Australasia (-8.9% to US$163.65), although both these results were partially offset by occupancy growth. In Southeast Asia however – usually the best-performing region – a 0.3% dip in ADR, to US$146.55, was compounded by a 4.0% decline in occupancy.
And according to Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global, this decline is largely the result of Bangkok’s political problems.
“In February and March, Bangkok reported the lowest occupancies in 10 years. The prolonged political crisis is impacting the hospitality industry and wider economy,” Ms Winkle said. She added however, that “India is finally showing signs of occupancy growth”, following several years of oversupply and weak demand.
In March 2014 alone, Asia Pacific’s revPAR fell 3.9%, as a 0.7% drop in occupancy compounded a 3.3% ADR decline. Bali (-13.0% to US$114.38) and Bangkok (-12.8% to US$94.72) reported the largest ADR decreases for the month, in US dollars terms, while the Thai capital’s occupancy slumped 33.6% last month to 53.7%.
There were success stories elsewhere in the region however; Auckland’s ADR increased 6.0% to US$133.44, while Mumbai achieved strong 8.1% rise in occupancy, to 69.2%. Osaka experienced Asia’s only double-digit revPAR increase, rising 11.5% to US$108.42.
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