Hotels in Hong Kong are experiencing all-time low occupancy levels for the month of August amid ongoing protests in the region, according to preliminary data from STR.
In Hong Kong, occupancy decreased 4.1% to 83.4%, while average daily rate (ADR) fell 9.1% to HK$1,163.21 (US$148.29) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) plummeted 12.9% to HK$970.42.
Based on daily data from the month, Hong Kong reported the following in year-over-year comparisons: Supply rose +1.5% while demand fell 28.8%, and occupancy plummeted 29.8% to 63.9%. Meanwhile, the average daily rate (ADR) decreased 21.0% to HK$1,086.16, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell 44.6% to HK$694.15.
The absolute occupancy level is the lowest for any month in STR’s Hong Kong historical database. According to financial secretary Paul Chan, tourist arrivals to the city fell nearly 40% in August, after a roughly 5% decrease in July.
After a prolonged period of overall performance growth, July was the first month that showed the protest impact on hotel performance with the key metrics down across the board: Occupancy fell 4.2%, while ADR decreased 7.9% and RevPAR dropped 11.8%.
In mid-August, STR forecasted a 19.3% RevPAR decrease for Hong Kong for 3Q2019. According to STR analysts, the market experienced 19 consecutive months of RevPAR declines following protests in 2014, and there has not been sufficient time between protest periods for the market to reach pre-2014 levels. Prolonged protests could worsen Q3 performance significantly through final August numbers and softer-than-anticipated September results.
