The start of 2012 was somewhat gloomy for the French hotel market, with only luxury hotels in Paris and on the Côte d’Azur posting RevPAR growth and some towns experiencing double-digit RevPAR drops, according to a new report from In Extenso.
Although a number of regional French towns — Avignon, Dijon and Le Havre, for instance — posted significant growth in January, cities including Lille, Lyon and Montpellier began to slow down, In Extenso reported.
In France overall, results for luxury hotels were somewhat encouraging, with occupancy up 8.9% to 55.6% and RevPAR up 10.4% to €179 (US$233). Upscale and midscale properties did not fare as well, reporting drops in occupancy of 3.5% and 0.6%, to 52.9% and 52.1%, respectively. RevPAR for upscale hotels in January was €87 (US$113), a 1.8% drop, while midscale hotels posted a 0.8% drop in RevPAR, to €50 (US$65).
In Extenso concluded that a cautious mood currently prevails in France, due to “the prospect of recession in 2012, rising unemployment and the increasing influence of products that provide alternatives to traditional hotels.”