NATIONALLY, occupancy rates rose by
0.5 points to 53.8% in the first quarter of 2004 compared to the
same period in 2003. In Quarter 1 2004, the average daily room
rate decreased by 0.3% to $108.54, which resulted in a Revenue
Per Available Room (RevPAR) of $58.39, a 0.7% increase over the
first quarter of 2003.
Hotel performance in the west shows improvements over last year
for the first 3 months of 2004, with very strong growth in March.
This compares to decreases in occupancy performance in Central
Canada in all 3 months in Quarter 1. The Quarter 1 RevPAR reflects
this, with commensurate western region growth of 4.1%, a recorded
improvement of 1.8% in Atlantic Canada and with a loss of 1.9%
in Central Canada.
ATLANTIC CANADA RESULTS – The
Atlantic provinces experienced a 49.9% overall occupancy and
a 1.7% increase in average daily room rate, which resulted in
a 1.8% increase in RevPAR. Prince Edward Island was up by 1.9
occupancy points from the same quarter last year while hotel
properties in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia reported declines
of 0.6 occupancy points. All Atlantic Canada provinces reported
an increase in average daily room rate for the first quarter
of 2004, with Prince Edward Island experiencing the highest increase
of 5.1% over the same period in 2003.
CENTRAL CANADA RESULTS – First
quarter results for Central Canada showed hotels tracked by PKF
experiencing a slight decrease of 0.6 occupancy points over the
same period in 2003. The average daily room rate for Central Canada
also reported a decrease of 0.7% to $112.91 and a 1.9% drop in
RevPAR. Ontario hotels reported occupancy down by 0.6 points for
the first quarter of 2004. Quebec properties also experienced a
small drop of 0.8 points in occupancy. Provinces in Central Canada
reported declines in average daily rates for the first quarter
of 2004 over the same period in 2003. Occupancy performance was
led by Toronto Airport (71.7%) while the highest average daily
room rates were achieved in Ottawa at $121.84.
WESTERN CANADA RESULTS – In
Western Canada, overall occupancy for hotels tracked by PKF showed
growth
of 3.9%, an increase of 2.1 occupancy points to 55.6% for the first
quarter of 2004. Properties in Western Canada achieved a $106.10
average daily room rate, a 0.2% increase, which resulted in growth
of 4.1% in RevPAR to $59 over the same period in 2003. Hotels in
Manitoba and the Yukon reported occupancy increases of 2.9 and
2.7 points respectively for the first quarter of 2004. First quarter
results for 2004 showed that the Yukon, Saskatchewan and Alberta
experienced increases in average daily room rate over the first
quarter of 2003. Whistler Resort Area led in occupancy performance
(71.1%) as well as average daily rate ($264.67) for the first quarter
of 2004.
Occupancy Rate First Quarter Results
2003 vs. 2004
Average Daily Room Rate First Quarter Results
2003 vs. 2004
