NATIONALLY, occupancy rates dropped by 3.8 points to 52.4% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. In Quarter 1 2009, the average daily room rate decreased by 1.2% to $122.69, which resulted in a Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) of $64.25, a 7.9% decrease over the first quarter of 2008.
Hotel performance in Atlantic, Central and Western Canada all showed decreases in occupancy percentage. With the exception of Central Canada, average daily rate increased for the first three months of 2009 over the same period in 2008.
ATLANTIC CANADA RESULTS – The Atlantic provinces experienced a 46.3% overall occupancy and a 1.9% increase in average daily room rate to $106.53 which resulted in a RevPAR of $49.36. Hotels in Newfoundland showed increases in occupancy from the same quarter last year while hotel properties in other Atlantic provinces reported declines in occupancy. All Atlantic Canada provinces reported increases in average daily room rate for the first quarter of 2009, with Prince Edward Island experiencing the highest increase of 7.5% 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 2008. The average daily room rate for Central Canada decreased by 2.7% to $121.17, resulting in a decline of 8.3% in RevPAR. Occupancy performance was led by Downtown Ottawa (64.6%) while the highest average daily room rates were achieved in Downtown Toronto at $145.38.
WESTERN CANADA RESULTS – In Western Canada, overall occupancy for hotels tracked by PKF showed a decrease of 4.9 occupancy points to 56.3% for the first quarter of 2009. Properties in Western Canada achieved a $126.47 average daily room rate, a marginal decrease of 0.1% over the same period last year, which resulted in a decrease of 7.9% in RevPAR to $71.20. Provincial occupancy increases were reported in the Yukon (up 12.4 occupancy points) and Saskatchewan (up 0.3 occupancy points) for the first quarter of 2009. First quarter results for 2009 showed that most Western Canada provinces experienced increases in average daily room rate over the first quarter of 2008. The Saskatoon market led in occupancy performance (75.4%) while Whistler Resort Area led in average daily room rate ($258.79) for the first quarter of 2009.
Occupancy Rate First Quarter Results
2009 vs. 2008
Average Daily Room Rate First Quarter Results
2009 vs. 2008
