The 2024 summer hotel season reported a steadier performance in key regions, particularly in Odesa and the Carpathians, compared to the previous year.
After the unusual year of 2023, when Bukovel’s occupancy exceeded all estimates, this year’s planning was based on the 2022 season’s figures.
As a result, we managed to deliver consistent performance, which shows a gradual recovery in the domestic tourism market.
The Carpathians: steady results
This year’s summer season in the Carpathians helped hotels maintain steady performance. The average hotel occupancy rate there was about 65.1%, which is the best possible result for mountain resorts in summer. On the other hand, in 2023, the occupancy rate was as high as 85%.
What is worth noting is the continued increase in the average room rate this year in the region, which, for example, has grown up to UAH 5,500 per night in some hotels of Ribas Hotels Group.
When it comes to current concepts, hotels with swimming pools and cottage towns were in particular demand. Interestingly, guests are more and more paying attention to concept hotels that focus on new experiences and creative vacation packages.
Odesa: a resort boom and high occupancy
The 2024 summer season in Odesa has clearly shown that tourists are back to seaside vacations. The occupancy rate of hotels, particularly those located closer to the sea, was at a record high.
On weekends, you could hardly find a vacant room in the city’s hotels, and the average occupancy rate of the city's hotels hit 75%.
The summer hotel season in 2024 showed more stable results in key regions, particularly in Odesa and the Carpathians, compared to last year.
On the other hand, last summer's average occupancy rate was about 40%. Back then, the season was affected by the situation with Kakhovka HPP blown up by the Russian military, so the beaches were closed until August 10, 2023.
The strong demand for resort vacations confirmed the trend toward short-term but frequent stays. Many guests returned to Odesa several times during the summer, opting for short reset weekends rather than long vacations.
The booking patterns have also changed significantly; 30% of Odesa’s room inventory was booked in advance, while the rest of the rooms were booked just a few days before the trip.
No changes to the booking window
There have been no global changes to the booking window. Customer behavior is largely the same as before: most bookings are made at the last minute.
There have been some changes for Odesa; some people have started to plan their weekends a little bit in advance, having a better idea of what the hotel occupancy might be, and made reservations earlier. However, we did not notice any bookings that were made more than two weeks in advance.
Business hotels: consistent demand for conferences and corporate events
Hotels in business cities continued to show stable occupancy in the corporate segment. Notably, even in August, traditionally a vacation month, business hotel occupancy remained above 60% due to a high number of corporate events.
Find out more about the keys to success of the season in the article in Ekonomichna Pravda.
