Hotel group Dalata says room revenue for first four months of year 28% ahead of same period pre-Covid

Dalata ‘traded strongly’ in first four months and is optimistic about trading for key summer months

Dalata chief executive Dermot Crowley with chief financial officer Carol Phelan: group Revpar is 28% ahead of pre-Covid levels so far this year.

Hotel group Dalata has raised its revenue forecasts for the first four months of 2023, expressing optimism about the summer months, “buoyed by the rebound in international travel, conferences and sustained domestic tourism”.

Revenue generated per available room (Revpar) across the group’s portfolio in the first four months of the year is expected to be 28 per cent ahead of the same period in 2019 before the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which significantly hampered Dalata’s operations.

Dalata, which held its annual general meeting in Dublin’s Gibson Hotel on Thursday, reported in February that group revenues surged to €500 million in 2022, a record for the company, which opened seven new hotels in the year.

In a trading update ahead of Thursday’s annual general meeting, Dalata chairman John Hennessy said the group’s performance last year had “exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations”.

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He said: “In 2023, Dalata has continued to trade strongly. We disclosed in February that group ‘like-for-like’ Revpar was 25 per cent ahead of 2019 levels for the January/February period; I am delighted to report that RevPAR is expected to be 28 per cent ahead of 2019 for the January to April period.”

Looking ahead, Mr Hennessy said the group is “optimistic for the summer months” and that Dalata’s recent additions “continue to perform well”. He said the group looks forward to the opening of the Maldron Finsbury Park, which it acquired late last year and expects to open in the summer.

He said the Maldron Hotel Shoreditch is also “on track for completion” in the first quarter of 2024. “Construction of our new Maldron leased hotels in Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester continues”, all of which are expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year.

Ian Curran

Ian Curran

Ian Curran is a Business reporter with The Irish Times