It’s a resurgent time in Europe for tourism. According to UNWTO, Europe attracted 22 million more international tourists  in 2014 over the past year. PwC’s ‘Room for Growth’ report 2015, published excellent statistics on Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR in 20 key European cities based on STR Global data and forward projections .

The cities included in this report are Dublin, Madrid, London, Rome, Prague, Porto, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Vienna, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Milan, Brussels, Berlin, Belfast, Paris, Geneva, Zurich and Moscow.

We picked out the top three cities in terms of RevPAR growth and bring to you a quick account of the stats of that city and what’s driving the growth.

1. Dublin

Dublin has the most promising RevPAR growth for all European cities under consideration in the PwC report. In 2014, its RevPAR grew by 11.1% to EUR75. RevPAR is expected to further grow to 81 in 2015 and 88 in 2016. The city is expected to jump from a RevPAR rank of 12 to 10, overtaking Brussels and Frankfurt consecutively.

In terms of Occupancy, Dublin occupies the fourth highest rank in Europe at 78.3% in 2014. This is expected to grow to 79.6% in 2015 and 80.2% in 2016. ADR is also growing well – from 95 in 2014 to a projected 102 in 2015 and 109 in 2016. ADR grew by 8.5% in 2014 and was therefore the primary driver for the growth in RevPAR.

Dublin’s strong growth is because of a combination of consumer confidence, international tourists, conferences and some major events including The Web Summit and the Croke Park Classic American Football series. The economy has also been doing very well. Ireland was the fastest growing EU economy with a growth rate of 4.3%.

However, Dublin’s room supply pipeline is constrained. The city needs to add 5000 bedrooms by 2020 to match growth in visitors, according to the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation. No new supply in expected in 2015.

2. Madrid

We have all heard about how the tourism in Spain had been affected by the economic crisis. But things have clearly changed and the outlook is now positive.

In 2014, Madrid’s RevPAR grew in nearly double digits, attaining 9.7% growth and reaching EUR55. That’s a good turnaround considering that RevPAR had fallen in the past 2 years, by 6.6% to 54 in 2012 and further by 7.2% to 59 in 2013.

In absolute RevPAR terms Madrid is placed at No 17 in the PwC report, but in terms of growth, the city occupies the second rank.

Madrid is projected to hold the No.2 position in 2015 growing by 5.6% to EUR59 and a further 4.8%  to 61 in 2016. Growth is being driven by ADR as well as Occupancy.

In the first half of 2014, there was an increase of two million more tourists in Madrid, compared to H1 2013. This was in part driven by the Government’s new tourism plan, introduced in 2013. Business tourism has been driven by events like the Arcomarid Fair, the Energy Fair and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

3. London

London is the most visited city in Europe according to Euromonitor International, attracting 16.8 million international visitors in 2013.

London’s RevPAR is expected to jump from GBP116 (EUR 144) in 2014 to GBP122 (EUR153) in 2015 and GBP127 (EUR161) in 2016. With this jump, London will occupy the place for 2nd highest RevPAR in Europe. It’s expected to overtake Geneva in 2016, and only behind Paris (in terms of Euros).

Despite a projected increase in room supply by more than 11,000 rooms in 2015 and 2016, occupancy is expected to grow to 84% and 85% in the respective years from 83% in 2014. These occupancy levels are the highest in Europe.

RevPAR growth, however, is primarily being driven by ADR (from GBP173 in 2014 to 182 in 2015)

London’s strong growth projections is expected to be driven by a number of events.

One of these is Rugby World Cup. The other one is the European Society of Cardiology’s (ESC) 5 day annual congress in August-September 2015, attended by around 35,000 medical professionals.

The UK’s economic outlook is also quite positive – 2.6% GDP growth in 2014 and 2.5% growth in 2015.

It’s interesting to note that RevPAR in Paris was EUR203 in 2014 and is projected to be 211 in 2016, far higher than any other European city.

A positive outlook

Europe’s growth story is looking positive once again. 17 out of 20 cities in the study are projected to have positive growth in 2015. Being major gateway cities, this implies a more positive outlook for most hotels across the region.

It’s important for your hotel to prepare for the next phase of this growth story by investing in the right technology will allows you to optimize your pricing and maximize your RevPAR. Technologies that will help you make more revenue every day.