The Olympics helped boost the hotel revenue overall for Europe

The London Olympics and the German exhibition and fair market have helped keep revenue per available room (RevPAR) in Europe in the green despite a majority of European countries struggling with the impact of the economic crisis.

According to a report by MKG hospitality for ECM members, the performance of European hotels in the first half of the year to July was mixed, however certain cities in August showed an average growth of 5.7 percent in RevPAR.

MKG Group director of development Vanguélis Panayotis said the growth is not actually the result of an increased trend in occupancy in European hotels, but rather due to an increase in average daily rates, thanks to exceptional circumstances in a small group of countries.

Germany recorded good results due to their well-developed business and MICE activity, including Dusseldorf’s exhibition and fair market and Munich’s Congress of the European Society of Cardiology event.

The effect of the Olympics was an advantage for the United Kingdom as it placed London in the front line of the media and boosted the average room rate by 36.3 percent to £137.0.

Nordic countries saw contrasting results as Copenhagen recorded an increase while performances in Sweden and Norway followed a reverse trend.

Hotel performance in Spain and Italy was impacted by the economic downturn.