Istanbul hotels occupancy rates soar in July but revenues keep plunging: Association

Hotel occupancy rates in Istanbul surged nearly 100 percent in July compared to the same month of last year but hotel revenues continued to decline, falling to around a third of hotels in cities such as Paris, the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB) has stated. 

TÜROB said in a statement on Aug. 24 that Istanbul saw the highest growth in hotel occupancy rates among all European destinations in July. 

Hotel occupancy rates in Istanbul rose to 72.4 percent in July with a 97 percent increase compared to the same month of 2016, when a coup attempt hit the country, the association said, citing STR Global data. 

"Despite this positive development, Istanbul's revenue continued to be much lower than the European average," it added. 

Lower than European average

While the average room revenue was 253 euros in Paris in July, it was 83.2 euros in Istanbul, according to the statement. In Dubrovnik, one of the key competitors of Istanbul in tourism, the average room revenue was 208 euros in July, data showed. 

The average rate in Europe was 116 euros in that month. 

Hotels in Istanbul experienced a huge decline in both revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rate (ADR), a measure of the average rate paid for rooms sold, in the first seven months of 2017.

In the mentioned period, the ADR plunged to 83.10 euros with a 21.9 percent decrease compared to the same period of 2016. The RevPAR also fell to 60.20 euros with a 7.40 year-on-year decrease, data showed.

TÜROB President Timur Bayındır said the figures showed that it is "not appropriate" to find the rise in hotel occupancy rates in Istanbul positive due to ongoing revenue plunge. 

"The plunging 2017...