Apaleo data reveals DACH hotel sector outshines serviced apartments

Hotels witnessed a significant surge in quarterly and annual revenue growth

Research from hospitality property management platform Apaleo has revealed a revenue boom in DACH hotels over serviced apartments in Q4 of 2023.

The final quarter of last year painted a rosy picture for the DACH hotel sector, with high demand sending revenues 13.7% higher year-on-year compared to a 0.3% increase for serviced apartments.

German, Austrian and Swiss hotels witnessed rapid growth between October and December, bucking inflationary pressures and capping off a strong year. 

While occupancy rates climbed 5.3%, the key boost came from a 4.3% jump in average daily rate (ADR) to €95.11, indicating healthy seasonal demand for traditional hotel stays. RevPAR sat at €62.90 in Q4. 

This resulted in 9.9% revenue growth over the full year, while ADR and occupancy were up 5% and 4% in 2023 respectively².

However, a seasonal slowdown saw a contraction in the quarter-on-quarter performance, with hotels witnessing a 16.1% drop in RevPAR between Q3 and Q4 2023. ADR also declined 7.3% while occupancy fell 12.2%. 

Apaleo's analysis of 3.7 million bookable nights shows hotels performed much stronger than DACH’s serviced apartments in the final quarter of the year, as well as across the whole of 2023. 

Annual RevPAR growth for 2023 was 7.6% but the final quarter saw serviced apartment occupancy rates slip 5.4%, which offset a 3.9% increase in ADR to €97.91. RevPAR rose just 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, settling at €75 in Q4. 

2023 saw DACH serviced apartments have greater ADR improvements than hotels, rising 11.1% year-on-year but were hampered by a drop in occupancy (-3.9%).

Serviced apartments also saw quarter-on-quarter seasonal declines with RevPAR down 13.6%, ADR down 7.8% and occupancy down 6.7%.