Istanbul experiences Europe’s biggest plunge in hotel revenues

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

Hotels in Istanbul experienced the biggest decline in both revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rate (ADR), a measure of the average rate paid for rooms sold, among all European destinations in January, as the city’s hotel occupancy rates continued to decline, fresh data showed. 

Istanbul’s hotel occupancy rate regressed to 45.7 percent with a 6.5 percent of year-on-year decrease. Its ADR and RevPAR decreased in January by 29.7 percent and 34.2 percent, respectively, compared to the same month of 2016, according to STR Global Data released by the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB) on Feb. 28.   

Istanbul saw the largest plummet in hotel revenues among all European destinations.
 
The ADR regressed to 67.4 euros in January from 95.8 euros in the same month of 2016. 

The city’s revPAR also regressed to 30.8 euros in January from 46.8 euros in the same month of the previous year. 


Urgent measures needed for Istanbul

TÜROB President Timur Bayındır called for urgent measures to be taken for Istanbul in a press release, saying that the city was worst hit from the Turkish tourism sector’s recent problematic scheme. 

“Despite the declining trend in hotel room prices in November and December 2016, we felt a bit optimistic with some slight increase in hotel occupancy rates. The January figures have however disappointed us. Especially for Istanbul, urgent measures are needed to be taken,” he said. 

Turkey’s hotel occupancy rates remained the same in January at 47.2 percent compared to the same month of 2016, according to STR Global Data.  

Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists visiting Istanbul declined to 9.2 million in 2016, a 26 percent decrease from the previous year, official data showed. 

This was the first year-on-year decrease in the number of foreign arrivals to Istanbul since 2000 amid escalating security concerns.

The highest monthly plunge was seen in June, as the number of foreign arrivals saw a 35.2 percent decline compared to the same month of 2015.