The Belgium hotel market has seen modest but positive changes in revenue per available room (RevPAR) across all significant markets during the first half of 2011, reports STR Global, the leading provider of market data to the world’s hotel industry.

The Flemish capital of Antwerp celebrated the opening of its new MAS museum earlier this year with the highest growth in RevPAR of 11.4 percent among the key markets.

The historic city of Brugge recorded the lowest actual occupancy (64.1percent) of the cities sampled, which together with a 5-percent increase in room stock contributed to a 2.1-percent decline in average daily rate (ADR). Nevertheless, Brugge still managed to post the second-highest increase in RevPAR of 9.5 percent. To the east, Liege recorded the largest increase in ADR (8.2 percent), albeit on top of the lowest actual ADR of EUR68.33.

Looking across Belgium at the rolling 12-month RevPAR performance,which serves to even out seasonal variations, the chart below illustrates two interesting facts. First, all markets are definitely on the up, following lows in 2010. Brussels is struggling to reach the same performance as it experienced at the beginning of 2009 whilst Antwerp’s was flat over the same period. Second, the big winners were Ghent and Liege who both saw a 9.2 percent increases in rolling RevPAR when comparing the months of January 2009 and June 2011.

Additionally, Ghent saw its rolling 12-month RevPAR (EUR76.12 for June 2011), exceeding that of Brussels (EUR74.55), reflecting the regeneration of this Flemish town and its growing attractiveness for both business and leisure travellers.

“The growth of our sample in the Belgium market, including most recently the addition of Liege, consolidates our position and is an important step in the total coverage we offer the Benelux region”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. STR Global collects data from more than 17,400 rooms across Belgium.

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