NATIONALLY, occupancy rates increased by 0.1 point to 52.6% in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009. In Quarter 1 2010, the average daily room rate rose by 4.4% to $127.89, which resulted in a Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) of $67.25, a 4.6% increase over the first quarter of 2009.
In Quarter 1 2010, hotel performance in Atlantic and Central Canada showed increases in occupancy percentage. With the exception of Central Canada, average daily rate increased for the first three months of 2010 over the same period in 2009.
ATLANTIC CANADA RESULTS – Atlantic Canada experienced a 47.3% overall occupancy and a 0.7% increase in average daily room rate to $107.32 which resulted in a RevPAR of $50.73. All Atlantic provinces showed increases in occupancy from the same quarter last year. Hotels in Newfoundland reported the highest increase in average daily room rate of 2.8% over the same period last year.
CENTRAL CANADA RESULTS – First quarter results for Central Canada showed a small increase in occupancy in comparison to the same period in 2009. The average daily room rate for Central Canada decreased by 2.0% to $118.68, resulting in a decline of 1.0% in RevPAR. Occupancy performance was led by Toronto Airport (63.7%) while the highest average daily room rates were achieved in Downtown Toronto at $143.69.
WESTERN CANADA RESULTS – In Western Canada, overall occupancy for hotels tracked by PKF showed a decrease of 0.6 occupancy points to 55.9% for the first quarter of 2010. Properties in Western Canada reported a $140.40 average daily room rate, an increase of 11.3% over the same period last year, which resulted in an increase of 10.2% in RevPAR to $78.43. Provincial occupancy increases were reported in the Yukon (up 6.8 occupancy points) and British Columbia (up 3.0 occupancy points) for the first quarter of 2010. First quarter results for 2010 showed that most Western Canada provinces experienced increases in average daily room rate over the first quarter of 2010. As a result of the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver and Whistler, the Whistler market led in both occupancy performance (73.1%) and average daily room rate ($331.44) for the first quarter of 2010.
