Turnover in the Netherlands hotel market has returned to normal after corona, but costs have risen sharply

The Dutch hotel market has largely recovered from the corona crisis. This is evident from the new HOSTA report from Horwath HTL Netherlands, presented on Tuesday, September 13 during the Horwath HTL Hotel Event 2023. The occupancy rates have not yet fully recovered, but are improving strongly. Partly due to high inflation, average room prices have risen to record levels. As a result, the turnover for the average hotel is again as high as before the start of the crisis. However, due to the sharp increase in costs, the average profit remains low.

Hotel market 2022: strong recovery

• The occupancy rate of Dutch hotels increased to 65.8% in 2022. This is more than 27 percentage points above the 2021 level (38.6%), but still 12 percentage points below the record level of 2019 (78.2%).
• The average room rate has risen sharply in 2022. Due to the corona crisis, the average room rate fell from € 120 in 2019 to € 88 in 2021. However, in 2022 an average room rate of € 134 has been achieved. This is an increase of 52% compared to 2020, and an increase of 12% compared to 2019.
• Due to the recovery in average occupancy rates and the increase in average room rates, the RevPAR, the revenue per available room, has increased from € 35 to € 88, an increase of more than 150%. Because the hotel restaurant, rooms and other facilities were used more often in 2022, total turnover increased even faster. Total revenue per available room (TRevPAR) increased from €64 in 2021 to €153 in 2022, an increase of almost 40%. Compared to 2019, total turnover has increased by 5%.

Cost increases

• Operating costs for hotels in the Netherlands have risen sharply since the corona crisis. National inflation (cpi) rose from 1.3% in 2020 to 2.7% in 2021 and 10.0% in 2022. The average price increase since 2019 is more than 14%. For hotels in the Netherlands, the average cost increase was even higher. Personnel costs and energy costs in particular increased sharply between 2019 and 2022.
• The profitability of Dutch hotels is therefore still under pressure. Expressed as a percentage of turnover, the operating result in 2022 is approximately 31.5%. In 2019 this was still 41.3%. The operating result per available hotel room was €48 in 2022. Compared to 2021, profit per hotel room has almost quadrupled, but compared to 2019, profit has fallen by almost 20%.

Hotel market 2023: continued recovery

• The results for the first half of 2023 indicate that the recovery is continuing, for both occupancy rates and average room rates.
• Based on the current results, hoteliers expect the national occupancy rate to reach approximately 72% in 2023. The average room rate is expected to be approximately €146 this year. This could result in a revenue per available room of €105; approximately  12% above 2019 levels. As this is still lower than headline inflation since 2019, the profit margin is not yet expected to have recovered.
• The Amsterdam & Schiphol hotel market is performing above expectations.
• The hotels in the Amsterdam & Schiphol region were hit hardest by the corona crisis in 2020, and were only able to show a minimal recovery in 2021. However, in 2022 the hotel market in the capital region performed above expectations. The occupancy rate almost doubled, from 31.4% in 2021 to 62.3% in 2022. This is still 23 percentage points below the 2019 level (85.3%).
• The average room price in Amsterdam & Schiphol rose very sharply, from €95 to €170. This means the average room price is approximately 12.6% above the 2019 level.
• Due to the higher room prices, turnover per available room increased by more than 250%, from €30 to €106. However, this is still almost 18% below the 2019 level (€129).
• The current results and projections for Amsterdam & Schiphol indicate a further recovery. If this continues, Amsterdam hotels will close the year 2023 with an occupancy rate of approximately 72% and an average room price of € 189. The revenue per available room could therefore amount to € 136, slightly above the 2019 level.

HOSTA 2023

The HOSTA 2023 report is a publication by Horwath HTL Netherlands. The report shows the results of the hotel industry in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. More than 400 three-, four- and five-star hotels in the Benelux participate in the research every year. The HOSTA 2023 report is presented during the Horwath HTL Hotel Event 2023, which is organized by Horwath HTL Netherlands and ABN AMRO on Tuesday, September 12.