May 2025: Europe’s major markets are not the outperformers
May 2024 was synonymous with a general upturn in European sales. The picture is more mixed in May 2025, with the underdogs on the offensive and Europe’s performance dynamics continuing to evolve strongly.
Across the continent, the midscale and upscale segments continued to drive performance growth. With +2.6 and 2.4 OR points respectively, the midscale and upscale segments reported RevPAR growth of 5.1 and 6.2%.
Overall, average daily rates rose by 2.4% and OR by 1.6 points, enabling European hoteliers to record RevPAR growth of 4.7% compared to May 2024.
With warmer temperatures, public holidays in some markets and continued MICE and corporate activity, May saw hotel occupancy levels ranging from 69.26% in France to 83.46% in Poland, for an average occupancy rate of 74.9% across the panel sample.
On the French market, a number of events were held in May, but they were not enough to sustain OR, which fell by 0.3 points, still below 70%. However, hoteliers capitalized on this wealth of events to maintain average daily rates at +2.4%, with RevPAR up 1.9%. Click here for a more in-depth analysis of May trends in France.
The performance of European destinations in May 2025 is not overly homogeneous or legible.
Double-digit RevPAR increases again
Latvia attracted Russian customers eager to take advantage of milder temperatures and longer days. The destination boosted its RevPAR by 17.9% compared with May 2024. TO was up 6.3 points.
Greece was already a top performer in May 2024, and its rating continues to climb, with RevPAR up 14.9%. Occupancy rate is up 9.8 points (also the panel’s highest increase), while average daily rates are stagnant at -0.3%.
Next up was Austria, whose mountains attracted tourists with a 14.8% increase in RevPAR. The 11.3% rise in average daily rates, combined with a 2.3-point increase in occupancy rates, boosted sales.
Poland and Germany were the last two countries to post RevPAR increases of over 10%, at 13.2 and 11.9% respectively.
Normalization in the biggest markets
Germany, which was among the worst performers in May 2024, is catching up, with a 6.2-point increase in occupancy rate and stable average daily rates, resulting in RevPAR growth of 11.9%. The hosting of the Champions League final undoubtedly boosted performance.
In the UK, the signs are for a slowdown, with OR stagnating at -0.1 points, ADR down and RevPAR down by 1.8%. It was the only destination not to post a positive performance.
Despite occupancy stagnating at -0.3 points, France maintained RevPAR at +1.9%.
Spain benefited from the return of fine weather, with RevPAR up 9.5%, OR up 1.2 points, and average daily rates up 8% on May 2024.
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