Dublin hotel performance significantly improves in 2011

Published 28 February 2012 

Deloitte, the leading business advisory firm, has released the Dublin hotel figures from STR Global for 2011. The figures show that hotel performance in the city was considerably stronger in 2011, compared with 2010. Occupancy rates increased by almost 6%, average daily rates (ADR) are up 6%, and revenue per available room (RevPar) has risen by nearly 12%.

The ADR being charged by Dublin hotels in 2011 was €82.12. In 2010, this figure was €77.43. In 2010, the RevPar figure stood at €52.04. The corresponding figure in 2011 was €58.30. The average occupancy rate for 2011 was 71%, compared to 67.2% for the prior year.

Analysing the figures over the course of the year, unsurprisingly Q3 with the peak summer months, saw the strongest performance for all key measurement indicators. In terms of ADR, this reached a peak of €83.78 in this quarter, as did occupancy at 81.6% and RevPar at €68.39.

Commenting on the 2011 STR Global results, Kevin Sheehan, Partner in charge of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Services at Deloitte, said: “Compared to this time last year, hoteliers in Dublin will feel more confident that they have weathered much of the storm that the economic crisis has brought. Despite a small decline in activity in the final quarter of the year relative to 2010, the increase in daily rates more than compensates for the reduction in occupancy levels. Dublin has positioned itself as a value city break destination, and that, coupled with favourable developments such as high profile state and royal visits, has meant that hoteliers been able to drive both occupancy and rates.

“Throughout Europe, the ADR in 2011 was €99.86. While Dublin’s ADR was lower than this, it does seem to be rising faster than its European counterparts, reflecting a correction from a lower base over the past two years. The European figure reflects a rise of 2.6% while the rise in Dublin was more than double this. Dublin hoteliers will need to be cognisant of this and ensure that they remain competitive. CSO figures show that the number of visitors to Ireland in the last quarter of 2011 was down 3% compared to the last quarter in 2010. It’s clear to see that competition among European destinations is very strong. That said, in terms of business from overseas markets, there are a number of events that Dublin hoteliers can capitalise on throughout the course of this year. These opportunities include the festivals such as the tall ships, the street performance world championships, the hosting of the 50th International Eucharistic World Congress and the potential knock on effect of the London 2012 Olympics.

“Similarly, in a recent CSO survey just less than one half of households indicated that as a response to the recession they were cutting back on holidays abroad. This represents an opportunity for hoteliers throughout Ireland to tailor their proposition to those consumers that are looking for an alternative to the foreign holiday.

“At the start of 2012, hoteliers should feel encouraged that it could be another steady year in terms of performance. There are a number of external factors which are beyond their control, and challenges such as maintaining cost competitiveness, the impact of NAMA on competition within the sector and ensuring that service offerings represent value for money remain. Therefore, hoteliers must ensure that they are best placed to take advantage of the opportunities that do exist. Target markets and the different segments within these must be front of mind, so that tailored propositions can be developed that will hit the right note with consumers. Those hotels that focussed on streamlining costs over the last number of years should see the benefits of growth going straight to the bottom line,” concluded Sheehan.  

Hotel performance in Dublin 2011

Source: STR Global
Percentages are increases/decreases for the same time period in the previous year.

Notes to editors:
All analysis in local currency.

Dublin 2011 data is based on monthly and daily results for the months January – December 2011.

About Deloitte
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The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

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About STR Global
STR Global provides clients-including hotel operators, developers, financiers, analysts and suppliers to the hotel industry-access to hotel research with regular and custom reports covering Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia/Pacific and South America. STR Global provides a single source of global hotel data covering daily and monthly performance data, segmentation data, forecasts, annual profitability, pipeline and census information.  Hotel operators can join the surveys on a complimentary basis and benefit from free industry data.  STR Global is part of the STR family of companies and is proudly associated with STR, RRC Associates, STR Analytics and HotelNewsNow.com. For more information, please visit www.strglobal.com.