Four and five star hotels gain weight and register an autumn with more occupancy than those in the lower categories

The hotel sector faces the winter-spring season with optimism after a “positive” autumn in which tourist arrivals grew by 2.8% and revenue per room increased by 6%. The feelings are good and so are the forecasts. “We are growing on good pillars,” celebrated this Thursday the president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Accommodations (Cehat), Jorge Marichal, who highlighted that the sector is growing “inwards.” According to the quarterly report published by the employers’ association and PwC, in the last year The hotel industry has remained stable, although the weight of four- and five-star accommodation has increased.which, in addition, closed the fall with better data than establishments in the lower categories.

Hotel occupancy in Spain stood at around 75% between September and October, one percentage point above the 74% recorded last year. “We are at very high occupancy rates and improving them is increasingly complicated, but every month we are improving or tying with respect to the previous year,” José Manuel Fernández Terán, partner responsible for Transport, Logistics and Tourism at PwC, explained at a press conference this Thursday, who especially highlighted the data from high-end establishments. According to the report presented this Thursday, Five-star hotels were slightly above average, with an occupancy rate of 76% and those of four reached 82%. These are levels that far exceed the 58% average occupancy of accommodations with two or fewer stars.

These higher-end properties also reported significantly higher room revenues due to more expensive rates. The average price of the night in a five-star hotel reached 290 eurosmore than triple the 82 euros paid on average in accommodations with two or fewer stars. In those for four the average was 129 euros and in those for three the average rate was 100 euros per night. The increase in these amounts compared to 2024 was quite linear in all categories, with an average year-on-year increase of 4%. However, income per room did grow more pronounced in lower-ranking accommodations, with an increase of 9.1% in those with two or fewer stars – from 44 to 48 euros per room – and an increase of 5% and 4.3% respectively in those with four and five – from 101 to 106 and from 211 to 220 euros.

From Cehat they highlight the reorientation of the hotel sector towards a higher quality offer. In the global calculation, the total number of places offered in Spain as a whole has remained stable in the last year, with a slight increase of just 0.9%. Instead, The volume of beds in four- and five-star hotels grew by 2.5% and 3.2%, respectively.to the detriment of those in lower categories. A total of 130,000 beds were counted in top-range accommodation and 921,000 in four-star accommodation, representing respectively 7% and 50% of the total.

“We are the same hotels, but we are better. We are generating greater added value and customers are willing to pay for it because they see something positive on the other side,” the president of the hotel association assessed this Thursday based on this data. “We are growing inward. You can grow with new hotels, but you can also grow by improving the ones we have and the added value offer. And that is what is happening,” said Marichal, who said he was confident that a “good winter” awaits the sector marked by a “stabilization” based “on the basis of good foundations and an improvement of the housing plan.”

Cehat and PwC forecasts predict a winter and spring season very similar to last year. According to the report presented this Thursday, hotels already have 35% reservations in their portfolio for December, 25% for January and 19% for February, very close to the 37%, 25% and 19% a year ago at the same dates. Expanding the focus to the months of March, April and May, the scenario is repeated – there are already around 15% of reservations in the portfolio for that period, compared to 14% in 2024 -, with the also perspective that Spain’s air connectivity will improve by 1.9% and that flights with large markets such as the United Kingdom, Italy and France will increase by even more than 5%. “The outlook for the next six months is positive and confirms Spain’s leadership as a tourist destination, thanks to the push of international tourism and the commitment of airlines,” summarized Fernández Terán.