NATIONALLY, occupancy rates dropped by 1.2 points to 56.2% in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007. In Quarter 1 2008, the average daily room rate increased by 4.4% to $124.10, which resulted in a Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) of $69.77, a 2.3% increase over the first quarter of 2007.
Hotel performance in Atlantic, Central and Western Canada all showed decreases in occupancy percentage while average daily rate increased for the first three months of 2008 over the same period in 2007.
ATLANTIC CANADA RESULTS – The Atlantic provinces experienced a 48.7% overall occupancy and a 3.7% increase in average daily room rate to $104.96 which resulted in a RevPAR of $51.11. Hotels in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island showed increases in occupancy from the same quarter last year while hotel properties in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reported declines in occupancy. All Atlantic Canada provinces reported increases in average daily room rate for the first quarter of 2008, with Prince Edward Island experiencing the highest increase of 7.7% over the same period last year.
CENTRAL CANADA RESULTS – First quarter results for Central Canada showed a decrease in occupancy in comparison to the same period in 2007, however, the average daily room rate for Central Canada increased by 2.1% to $124.61, resulting in a marginal drop of 0.3% in RevPAR. Occupancy performance was led by Toronto Airport (67.0%) while the highest average daily room rates were achieved in Downtown Toronto at $155.80.
WESTERN CANADA RESULTS – In Western Canada, overall occupancy for hotels tracked by PKF showed a decrease of 0.8 occupancy points to 61.5% for the first quarter of 2008. Properties in Western Canada achieved a $126.05 average daily room rate, an increase of 6.8%, which resulted in growth of 5.4% in RevPAR to $77.47 over the same period in 2007. Provincial occupancy increases were reported in Northwest Territories (up 6.2 occupancy points), Manitoba (up 2.3 occupancy points) and Saskatchewan (up 1.6 occupancy points) for the first quarter of 2008. First quarter results for 2008 showed that most Western Canada provinces experienced increases in average daily room rate over the first quarter of 2007. The Whistler Resort Area market led in occupancy performance (79.9%) as well as in average daily room rate ($293.70) for the first quarter of 2008.
Occupancy Rate First Quarter Results
2008 vs. 2007
Average Daily Room Rate First Quarter Results
2008 vs. 2007
