Hotel RevPAR in gateway cities declined across the board in the first quarter of this year, according to a report produced by Sara Duggan, Director of Marketing, TravelCLICK.

Singapore dropped 34.2%, Hong Kong 22.7%, Los Angeles 20% and Vancouver 27.4% in figures released by STR for March 2009 year to date.

She said that Singapore hotels have been particularly hard hit by the "double whammy" effect of declining production combined with a surplus of hotel rooms. 

"From mid-2008 until 2009, at least four major hotels have opened, while two more are getting ready to open this year.  As a result, supply is expected to surge over demand because fewer people are traveling.  This is in stark contrast to the past four years, when demand levels could not be met, potential guests could not be accommodated, and RevPAR doubled.

"A recent survey (CB Richard Ellis) found that Singapore has 23,000 four- and five-star hotel rooms coming online from 2009 to 2012. If all of the hotel projects currently proposed or under construction are finalized on time, supply will increase 40 percent over the next four years, the survey finds."

Quoting STR reports, she said the Singapore market recorded a negative growth and declined 40.3% in revenue for first quarter 2009. 

Despite the challenging market, TravelCLICK's Singapore properties recorded an 8.14% year-over-year growth in the same period.  Year to year, they have performed significantly better than the global average (see chart).

Singapore, March YTD 2009 vs. YTD 2008


4Hoteliers is the "Official Daily News" of WIT09

www.webintravel.com - October 20-23, 2009 Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore

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