STR Global Reports RevPAR Growth for Central, South America

The majority of South and Central American cities tracked by STR Global, which recently announced global hotel performances for March, continued to report revenue-per-available-room (RevPAR) improvements for the first quarter 2012 compared to the same time last year.

Ten out of 14 cities tracked across Central and South America reported RevPAR improvements driven by increases in average daily rates (ADR).

Panama City; Lima, Peru; Manaus, Brazil; and Bogota, Colombia, reported RevPAR declines in local currency for the first quarter, dropping between 11.1 percent in Panama City and 16.2 percent in Bogota. Panama City and Bogota saw the highest supply increase of the 14 cities with 16.1 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively.

The additional hotel supply reflects the booming investment and confidence in these markets. Higher demand growth in Panama City helped to offset some new supply in the market, and hence, Panama City reported lower occupancy and ADR declines than Bogota.

The additional supply “reflects the booming investment and confidence in these markets,” according to the STR report. “The RevPAR increases reflect the solid market conditions across Central and South America," said Elizabeth Randall, STR Global’s managing director. "However, recent weakening of demand in seven of the 14 markets can be seen as an indication that there will be tougher market conditions going forward.”

Rio de Janeiro and Cordoba, Argentina, ended the first quarter with RevPAR increases of more than 20 percent, achieving the top two spots in terms of RevPAR growth of the 14 markets. Cordoba, Argentina's second-largest city, reported limited increases in supply and demand, leading to 57.8 percent occupancy and ARS 382.91 average room rate.

Rio de Janeiro's performance was boosted by better demand levels (up 6.1 percent) compared to first quarter of 2011. Coupled with limited supply, occupancy reached 81.5 percent and ADR reached BRL 418.73. Rio's RevPAR for the first quarter (BRL 341.19) was the best RevPAR achieved for a first quarter in Rio since 2006.

http://www.travelpulse.com/str-global-reports-revpar-growth-for-central-south-america.html