Here’s why hoteliers shouldn’t be celebrating just yet despite exceptional April numbers

A repeat performance is unlikely, analysts say.

April saw tourists shuffling in hotels in vastly improved numbers, with overall RevPAR figures expanding by about 4% yoy. However, analysts say the improvement is hollow and unsustainable.

According to a report by UOB Kay Hian, positive RevPAR growth was observed across the various sub segments which was bolstered by the stellar performance of upscale, mid-tier and economy hotels, which posted respective yoy growth rates of 6.9%, 10.7% and 6.2% and leading to a RevPAR of S$228.9, S$154.6 and S$83.3 respectively.

“Luxury hotels’ RevPAR saw a slight uptick of 0.2% yoy to S$361. Overall RevPAR for 4M16 ytd showed a slight decline of 0.8% yoy,” UOB Kay Hian said.

However, UOB Kay Hian noted that channel checks reveal that April’s performance is unlikely to be indicative of 2Q16’s performance as the exceptional results could have been attributable to events like Food & Hotel Asia, as well the Easter holidays, with Apr 15 and Mar 16 having seen weaker performances.

Meanwhile, continued double-digit growth in tourist arrivals still bodes well for incoming supply.

“The month of April saw visitor arrivals grow 14.4% yoy to hit about 1.4m travellers. For 4M16, overall visitor arrivals of about 5.5m translated to a 14.1% yoy expansion. April’s exuberant figure was propelled by positive growth in the five largest inbound markets - Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Australia and India – which accounted for 55.3% of total international visitors in April,” UOB Kay Hian added.

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