Spain's hotels sold no extra rooms this July. They still made 6.6% more money.
That was the pattern all week across Europe.
INE published July this morning: 44.8m overnight stays, up 0.3% Occupancy 71.1% of bedplaces ADR €156.9, up 6.8% RevPAR €119.3, up 6.6%
Residents booked less (down 1.1%), foreign visitors covered it (up 1.1%). Nobody discounted. Same signal AirDNA gave for Europe-wide July: occupancy flat, rate doing the work.
Bank of Greece, yesterday: H1 travel receipts €8.8bn, up 14.8% from €7.66bn Non-resident arrivals up 15.4%
Strongest half Greece has posted. But June on its own came in at 1.2% receipts growth and 6.9% arrivals. The growth is front loaded into spring. The peak is full, and the upside has moved into the shoulder months.
HomeToGo H1, Wednesday: Revenue €160.1m, up 71.8% Free cash flow +€48.2m, from minus €5.0m HomeToGo_PRO (B2B) €105.2m, up 250.5%, now around 66% of group revenue and profitable Record end-H1 backlog €71.9m, FY guidance reaffirmed
The money in European STR has moved from capturing demand to supplying the operators who serve it.
And one for the win column. Dénia approved its final tourist housing ordinance on Monday and it landed looser than the draft. The cap in the high demand beach zone went from 15% to 25%. A 1% allowance came back in protected residential neighbourhoods. Three old town streets reopened. The draft would have cut 639 urban licences to 344 by 2029.
Seven responses in a 30 day consultation changed that. Seven.
What it means if you're operating:
Volume has stopped growing. Rate is the lever, and the whole market just proved it works, so don't be the one who blinks and discounts.
Greece is showing you where the growth actually lives now. September, October and next spring. Price the shoulders properly.
The rulebook moves more often than the headlines suggest, but only for the people who file a response while the window is open.
This was the week the market stopped rewarding occupancy and started rewarding nerve.
Where did you hold rate this summer when it felt uncomfortable?
