With a tough year for the Vienna hotel market coming to a close, it is time to look ahead to 2010. STR Global, the leading provider of market data to the world’s hotel industry, working in cooperation with the Oesterreichische Hoteliervereinigung, predicts occupancy levels in the city to grow between 6 percent and 9 percent in 2010. Average room rates will remain under pressure with an expected decline of between 4 percent and 7 percent. 

The predicted 2010 revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth of between 0 percent and 2 percent is based on a weak performance of 2009. Viennese hoteliers reported declines in all three performance indicators for the year-to-October 2009. RevPAR fell by €14 to €63 compared to the same period last year (as seen in the table below). 

Hotel performance in Vienna

Recent months saw an improvement in occupancy with year-over-year decline only in the single digits compared to double-digit declines in the first five months of this year. A series of international conferences boosted the city’s fortunes; September was an especially good conference month. However, October and the first weeks in November continued the trend of occupancy and ADR being under pressure.

On a European-wide comparison, Vienna shows a moderate performance relative to other European cities. Out of the 40 cities ranked in the October STR Global European Hotel Review, Vienna is in 27th place in terms of RevPAR declines (in local currency). Destinations worse off than Vienna typically are in Eastern and Southern Europe and in the Benelux countries, e.g. Budapest (-19 percent), Milan (-21 percent), Barcelona (-22 percent) and Amsterdam (-22 percent).