China has led the revenues of the global hospitality industry rising sharply beyond the highs previously seen in 2019 as over 90 pc of the markets showing their Revenue per Available Room higher than the corresponding period in 2019, says latest analysis released by hospitality industry data aggregator and analyst firm STR.

STR says that its global ‘bubble chart’ update shows an exceptional 90 pc of markets with growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR) compared to 2019. This marks the highest proportion of markets in that category since the update began in May 2022, says STR.

It adds that China played a significant role in that growth with 85 pc of its markets surpassing 2019 RevPAR levels. At one point last year, China accounted for one-fourth of the markets with RevPAR levels below those of 2019.

Among all countries with a total supply of more than 50,000 rooms, Israel, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, and France led in RevPAR on an actual basis. Notably, all five countries were leaders in the last 28-day period, but this time around, Greece grabbed the top spot from Israel, says the analyst firm.

Since the last update, country-level performance has remained stable, with all 48 countries in the 50,000-room group reporting occupancy rates above 50 pc. Ireland continued to lead in occupancy at an impressive 88 pc. Additionally, as the northern hemisphere moves deeper into summer, Average Daily Rate (ADR) has been on the rise with nine countries reporting ADR above USD 250.

The leaders in absolute RevPAR performance also led the way in RevPAR growth compared to 2019. Greece, Italy, and Israel retained the top spots and were joined by Saudi Arabia and Colombia, says STR report, adding that notably, Saudi Arabia moved from the lower ranks to become one of the top performers once again, primarily because of the seasonal adjustment of Ramadan.

It is worth highlighting that the largest non-north America market, China, has seen significant improvement in its performance since the beginning of this update. The country reached its 2019 occupancy level recently, while growth in ADR was rather low at 9 pc.

However, overall, occupancy growth retracted compared to the last review, as only nine of 48 countries experienced higher levels than in 2019, 12 less than in the previous update, says STR. Indeed, three of the top five RevPAR leaders couldn’t capture growth in this indicator, as Italy, Greece, and Israel all saw their occupancy levels fall behind those of 2019.

Excluding markets with fluctuating exchange rates, the top five RevPAR performers were the Italian Central region, Sri Lanka, Basilicata/Calabria/Puglia, Hainan and Sanya. Notably, the two summer holiday destinations in China, Hainan and Sanya, saw exceptional growth in RevPAR, with Hainan recording an impressive 157 pc increase, while Sanya’s RevPAR grew 119 pc.