The hotel market 2008/09

Against this backdrop, the city’s bed occupancy rate rose by 0.1 % to 42.6 %, while the B&B sector even saw an increase of 3.7 % to 45.3 %. As the latter segment still has a high proportion of private operators, their businesses are likely to have benefited particularly from the uneven development across the various accommodation categories.

A positive picture emerges if we look at room occupancy – a more meaningful indicator given Düsseldorf’s visitor structure, which reflects the large proportion of solitary travellers among business and trade fair visitors. Room occupancy rose by 3.9 % to 66.8 % in the first six months of 2008. This explains the city’s excellent average room price of 133 euros (+42 %) and room yields – the product of the average room rate and utilisation – of 89 euros (+53 %). Düsseldorf has achieved the highest values of any comparable city, both in absolute terms and in growth.

• 3.1 % capacity growth in 2008
• Steady bed occupancy rate, at 42.6 %
• Room occupancy rose by 3.9 % to 66.8 %
  
  

New construction planned in the medium term

Ten new hotels are planned for the short and middle terms, while 2009 saw the opening of 2 new hotels. This included the conversion of a former office building on Corneliusstraße into an “A&O Hotel Hostel”, owned and operated by the Berlin-based A&O hotel group and featuring 154 hotel rooms and 18 hostel rooms. The 214-room Mövenpick Hotel am Hofgarten – completed at the beginning of the year, but not yet opened – has now been taken over by the Spanish Maliá Group and is set for an autumn opening. This will produce a 3.5 % increase in overnight capacity in 2009, regardless of the development in existing hotel operations. The other openings planned for this year have all now been postponed to 2010 or later.

• Two new hotels built in 2009
• Capacity growth of 3.5 %
  
  

Number of guests

The market has unmistakeably responded to the 2008 forecasts, which predicted a downturn in overnight stays in the first half of 2009, especially in the foreign visitor segment. As a consequence, the bed occupancy rate was 38.8 % while room occupancy amounted to 56 %. Last year’s high prices were reduced. Two overlapping factors were responsible for this development: on the one hand, 2009 is a year with fewer trade fairs; with the exceptions of ‘boot’ and ‘Medica’, no leading trade fairs are scheduled. The second is the worldwide finance and economic crisis, which has had a global effect on a number of industries and, in turn, has led to a sharp decline in national and international business travel. An upturn is expected from 2010 onwards, when Düsseldorf will host a number of major trade shows including ‘K’, the world’s largest plastics fair, and ‘interpack’ in the following year. Yet one should not overlook the fact that, even if the drop in overnight stays remains at a low level throughout the entire year, Düsseldorf will still be able to match the excellent figures achieved in 2007, considered a highly successful year for tourism. Whether reductions in household incomes caused by the crisis has affected leisure travel, and to what extent, will only become clear at the end of this year.