Hotel performance data in the latest HotStats survey shows that for the month of April, both Düsseldorf and Frankfurt registered double digit declines in Rooms Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR).

This led to a massive drop in Gross Operating Profit per Available Room (GOPPAR) performance, with Düsseldorf in April 2011 down to a third of what it was in April 2010.

"The headline numbers look particularly grim for the German cities but this reflects their weak leisure business. The rolling 12 month numbers actually show double digit increases in profit with the drop in April down to the move of Easter," said Jonathan Langston, managing director, TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Düsseldorf and Frankfurt hotels registered respective declines in RevPAR of 30.1% and 23.4%, as the value and volume of commercial demand decreased significantly. As a result, Total Revenue per Available Room (TrevPAR) declined in both markets by 23.9% and 18.6%, resulting in a GOPPAR decline of 69.5% in Düsseldorf, and 45.4% in Frankfurt.

In addition to the Easter holiday period, both cities lacked the huge volume of demand created through significant biennial events. In Düsseldorf the Wire and Tube festival was badly missed, with branded upmarket hotels charging rooms in excess of €300 over a six-day period in April 2010.

In Frankfurt, the absence of the Light and Building exhibition was the significant cause of RevPAR decline. In addition, many guests to the 2010 exhibition were stranded due to the Icelandic ash cloud, which enabled hoteliers to capitalise on the surge of demand caused by the freak event.

"German cities with greater leisure appeal such as Berlin and Hamburg continued to enhance revenue and profit performance in April, and in all likelihood April 2011 performance is not reflective of the year-round trend of all German city markets, including Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, which is indicating sustained profit growth," said Langston.

In the 12 months to April 2011, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt markets have experienced GOPPAR growth of 27.5% and 16.3% respectively.

The remaining eight of the ten European cities surveyed in the latest HotStats survey, achieved an increase in GOPPAR performance.

In London, the highly anticipated Royal Wedding was expected to boost revenue and profit growth. Despite great international interest and reported increases in visitor levels, the Royal Wedding did not have a positive effect on London hotel market revenue and profit performance.

"Data from our HotStats survey indicates that over the bank holiday period of the Easter Royal Wedding and May Day, London market performance dipped. The reason why London experienced strong RevPAR and GOPPAR growth was because of the rebound effect from the Icelandic ash cloud which severely affected London market performance in April 2010," commented Langston.

Overall, the London market increased TrevPAR performance by 11.2% to €173.83 and GOPPAR performance by 13.3% to €76.14.

Amsterdam continues to register robust results increasing GOPPAR performance by 43.2% to €98.46 in April. Over the 12 month period to April 2011, GOPPAR performance has increased by 35.2%.

Budapest experienced the highest RevPAR growth (24.9%), supported by a 15.9 percentage point increase in occupancy performance to 76.1%.

Strong Profit Growth in Other European Cities Surveyed Rome experienced a significant increase in average room rate performance (7.3%), increasing RevPAR performance to €153.62.

Dublin continued its path to recovery as GOPPPAR performance increased by 41.9% in the month of April.

"Overall, there is evidence of a sustained and robust trend of revenue and profit growth in the leading European city markets. Whilst there is some uncertainty in some parts of Europe given the wider economic climate, there continues to be a positive trend which is encouraging," reflected Langston.