The average daily rate (ADR) for a hotel room in the Balearics has increased by 10% up to September compared to the previous year, to an average of 209.5 euros per night. This is according to the Hotel Sector Barometer, prepared jointly by STR and Cushman & Wakefield, which indicates that the islands are in this respect only behind Marbella, which has an average of 323.1 euros per night.
Nationally, hotel occupancy in Spain stood at 75.4% between January and September, 2.4% more than in the same period of 2023, while the average daily rate (ADR) grew to 162.8 euros (+10.4%) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased with 122.7 euros (+13%). Malaga once again topped the occupancy ranking, with 82.6% in the first nine months, followed by Valencia (83.5%) and Alicante (82%).
The highest percentage growth in occupancy was in Alicante, ahead of Madrid and Granada, which increased by 4.7 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively. The only negative evolution was recorded in Granada, where occupancy last year was 70.4%, while in 2024 it stood at 68.7%. In the analysis of the main cities, the report highlights that Madrid evolved with an improvement in occupancy of 4.7 percentage points, reaching 75%, while Barcelona stabilised its growth with 79.8% for the year as a whole.
The third quarter figures benefit from an excellent holiday season with record highs in RevPAR in almost all destinations, driven mainly by double-digit growth in ADR, said STR’s account manager Spain, Elvira Arjona. “Demand has shown extraordinary strength throughout the year, which has also allowed us to record excellent indicators in months that traditionally had less activity,” she added.
In terms of ADR, the most expensive hotels on average were in Marbella, the destination that in each edition of the Barometer usually tops this ranking, with 323.1 euros per night on average and a growth of 9% compared to last year. A night in the Balearics cost an average of 209.5 euros up to September (+10%), while in Barcelona it was 193.6 euros, up 9.5%.
During the first nine months of the year, Madrid was the destination with the highest increase in hotel prices, with a rise of 16.3%, which has placed the ADR of hotels in the capital at 166.8 euros. The average price per night also grew by more than double digits in the Canary Islands, Malaga, the Balearics and Seville.
“Operating margins can benefit from the rise in prices and the moderation of inflation, although we have seen in the summer that the upward trend may moderate in the coming months, depending also on demand that may be affected by the evolution of the international situation,” according to the partner and co-head of Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality in Spain, Bruno Hallé. Lastly, Madrid has seen its RevPAR rise by 21.8% from January to September, registering 125.2 euros, compared to 102.7 euros in the same period in 2023.
Thanks to this rise, this city was the fifth highest in Spain, behind Marbella (223.7 euros), Barcelona (154.5 euros), the Balearic Islands (151.3 euros) and Malaga (137.1 euros). In addition to Madrid, hotels in Seville and Alicante also grew in revenue per available room by more than 15%. For the partner and co-managing director of Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality in Spain, Albert Grau, “hotel investment continues to focus on Spain and part of this interest is due to the excellent performance of operations, as data such as RevPAR give security to potential investors in hotel assets”.
