Sapa

SOUTH African hotels increased their occupancy rates to 69% last year, a Deloitte survey has found.

The Hotel Benchmark Survey found SA’s hotel occupancy rates had increased, representing growth of 4,4% in occupancy rates compared to a negative 1,1% in the Middle East, a negative 0,4% in Asia and 2,3% growth in Europe.

"We have regularly been questioned in recent years about the appropriateness of rates charged in SA," Rob O’Hanlon, the Deloitte SA partner for Travel, Tourism and Leisure said in a statement today.

"Given that the rates are already low by global standards, it is evident at a macro level that South African hotel accommodation is competitively priced. This evidence ties in with the impressive performances that our clients are recording over the current season," O’Hanlon said.

The Hotel Benchmark Survey contains the largest independent source of hotel performance data outside of North America and tracks the performance of over 6,500 hotels and 1,2 million rooms every month.

Federated Hospitality Association of SA (Fedhasa) members had been involved in an ongoing debate about ensuring the balance between achieving an acceptable return on investment and keeping SA competitively priced as a long haul destination, Fedhasa Cape chairman, Nils Heckscher said in a statement.

"It is fantastic to see that for 2005 we seem to have got the balance right."