According to business advisory firm Deloitte, revenue per available room (revPAR) in South African hotels was up 5.8 per cent during the month of June.
RevPAR in Cape Town increased 14.2 per cent to break five consecutive months of revPAR decline, despite only hosting two rugby matches. The jump was due to a 10.6 per cent increase in average room rates to ZAR 880 (£66) alongside an occupancy increase to 51.1 per cent. Cape Town hotels previously had a 12-month cycle of occupancy decline.
“There is no doubt that the South African tourism industry continues to be challenged by the global economic downturn and some tourists are being deterred by the strong Rand against source market currencies,” said Moray Wilson, Deloitte’s tourism, hospitality and leisure leader for Southern Africa. “Data compiled by STR Global shows that revPAR is down 7.2 per cent year-to-June 2009 and if this trend continues, 2009 could be the first year in 10 years that revPAR has contracted.”
“The sporting events in June gave the hotel industry a welcome break from the declines and also provided South Africa with a practice run before the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The country is no stranger to hosting sporting events but the World Cup will certainly be the biggest we have held in recent years. During the event, the country is aiming to welcome approximately 450,000 visitors and will certainly set up the framework for a very prosperous 2010 for the tourism industry.”
Johannesburg also benefited from hosting one rugby and five football matches in June with revPAR up 9.9 per cent to ZAR 832 (£63) – its strongest revPAR this year and ending a six month run of decline. A 20.6 per cent jump in average room rates in the city was solely responsible for the increase as occupancy continued to decline 8.9 per cent.
