Although the industry has come back to life, with an average occupancy of 67.7% overall, there is still some way to go to reach 2019’s record figure of 74.7%. Occupancy drove the ADR (average daily rate) for 2022 up to €133, some 20% higher than in 2021.
Among destinations, Barcelona concluded the year with excellent performance in terms of all indicators, RevPAR rising by 170% in comparison with 2021 and reaching €109. As has become commonplace, Marbella continues to lead the ranking in terms of RevPAR and ADR, at €292 and €204 respectively.
Produced jointly by STR y Cushman & Wakefield, the Hotel Barometer at the close of 2022 confirmed that the hotel industry was in good shape, with practically full recovery in the second half of the year despite the first months of 2022 being impacted by the Omicron variant. The recovery in revenues and room rates to 2019 figures was practically complete in terms of the majority of destinations and, in expectation of full recovery, occupancy similarly remains at an average of 7 percentage points below the figure achieved that year.
Within this context, average occupancy for hotels in Spain stood at some 67.7% for the year as a whole, representing an improvement of 53% on the previous year. Nevertheless, it still sits some 10% below the figure for 2019 (74.7%). Following the long hiatus brought about by the pandemic, the arrival of travellers has enabled the industry to increase average room rates and, consequently, revenue per available room in general. RevPAR for Spain as a whole reached €90.10 (+84% in comparison with 2021 and 2% with respect to 2019), whereas the ADR climbed to €133 (+20% compared with 2021 and +12% in comparison with the 2019 figure).
Reduced seasonality is a reality in destinations such as the Costa del Sol, as demonstrated by the high average occupancy in 2022. Although Marbella lags behind at 62%, its figures in terms of average rates and revenues are excellent. The Canary Islands and Valencia take joint second place in the rankings, with occupancies of 74%. For its part, Barcelona recorded the greatest increase in occupancy in comparison with 2021 (+76%), whilst Madrid also achieved a significant rise of 58%. Both cities are benefiting from the arrival of international tourism.
In the opinion of César Escribano, STR’s Country Manager for Spain and Portugal, “the industry has almost entirely come back to life and, as we saw last week at Fitur, expectations are positive for 2023. Nevertheless, the reactivation of markets such as China is necessary for full recovery”.
With respect to this recovery, Bruno Hallé, Partner and Co-head of Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality Spain, feels that “the sector is demonstrating its resilience in the face of challenges and in 2022 benefited from a thirst for travel. Although we also anticipate positive growth in occupancy and prices in 2023, operating costs in terms of energy bills and other fundamental items such as staffing and raw materials costs represent a challenge. The results for this year will depend on how these hurdles are tackled”.
It was evident throughout 2022 that international demand remained attracted by Spanish destinations once the restrictions on mobility began to be stepped back. The arrival of travellers has also enabled average room rates to reach €133, a figure some 20% higher than that of 2021 and up to some 12% over the excellent figure for 2019. Demand is strong and we may continue to see price increases. These are also driven by high inflation in Spain, a situation similar to that in leading source markets such as France and the UK.
Marbella is the destination with the highest ADR, achieving a figure of €292. It is followed by the Balearic Islands (€172), Barcelona (€153), the Canaries and Madrid (both with €133). In contrast, the cities with the lowest prices were Zaragoza (€88) and Granada (€66).
In the opinion of Albert Grau, Partner and Co-head of Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality Spain “Hoteliers endeavoured to maintain average room rates despite the minimal activity seen in 2020 and 2021, enabling a rapid recovery to levels that ensure strong performance. Price management will be influenced by the definitive recovery of the luxury segment, originating especially from Asia and the Americas. These are still far from the levels seen in 2019, particularly with respect to China”.
The ADR amounted to €133 for Spain as a whole, some 20% higher than the figure for 2021
Although still unable to reach the levels seen in 2019, the strong improvement in occupancy enabled a doubling of 2021’s RevPAR figure in Madrid (€88, +110%) and also in Barcelona (€109, +170%). The average RevPAR figure for Spain as a whole (€90.10) represents an increase of 84% on the figure for 2021 and is even some 2% higher than that of 2019. The destinations enjoying the highest RevPAR figures were Marbella (€181), Barcelona (€109) and the Balearic Islands (€109), followed by the Canaries (€98) and Malaga (€97).
The comparison with 2019 demonstrates that there are some destinations where the figures remain slightly below those of the aforementioned year, as is the case in Barcelona, Madrid and Bilbao. Nevertheless, in some destinations this figure is already above that seen prior to the pandemic, namely the Canary Islands, Marbella, Malaga and the Balearics. As pointed out by numerous forecasts, holiday destinations are rapidly getting back to the figure seen prior to the pandemic, whereas city destinations, where the MICE and corporate segments have a greater share, will have to wait a little longer.
Average revenue per available room (RevPAR) climbed to €90.10 in 2022
The Hotel Sector Barometer brings together data from 1,200 hotels and around 180,000 rooms on the Iberian Peninsula. The study is the product of an alliance between STR, a worldwide provider of benchmarking, analytics and market knowledge specialising in the hotel sector, and Cushman & Wakefield Spain, the world leader in real estate services.
