Paris led the field in both rate and revpar during August, but London was not far behind, according to the latest -Europe Chain Hotels Market Review.

Revenue per available room in the French capital rose by 15.7 per cent to Eu163.53, driven largely by the highest average rate in the survey at Eu210.29, up 6.6 per cent.

With occupancy flat, London's 9.7 per cent uplift in rate to Eu184.27 led to revpar up 9.9 per cent to Eu160.31, just Eu3.22 behind Paris. Amsterdam occupied third place with revpar up 11.2 per cent to Eu127.39.

Prague packs them in with the highest occupancy in Europe. Although occupancy in Paris was up 6.2 points to 77.8 per cent, in absolute terms it remained fourth from bottom above Moscow, Berlin and Hamburg.

The fullest hotels were found in Prague where a four point improvement took occupancy to 90.5 per cent. Yet, despite such high levels of demand, Prague experienced negative rate and revpar movement. Average rate was down by 6.2 per cent to Eu93.14 resulting in a 1.9 per cent drop in revpar to Eu84.26.

"Revpar is a delicate balancing act between optimising volume and rate. Despite having the fullest hotels in our survey, Prague's average rate did not improve, leaving revpar in the red. In Paris, comparatively low occupancy did not deter its hoteliers from eschewing cheap business, resulting in strong revpar growth," said David Bailey, director, TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Moscow and Vienna show impressive rate growth. The most aggressive example of rate growth in spite of low volume was found in Moscow where the average rate was up 20.3 per cent to Eu171.58, the third highest in the survey. Occupancy in the Russian capital crept up 1.1 points to 63.8 per cent, but remained at the bottom of the table.

Vienna also experienced a notable increase in average rate, up by 18.9 per cent to Eu136.29, contributing to revpar growth of 17.5 per cent to Eu114.46.