(Finance) – The hotel occupancy rate Europeans could exceed pre-pandemic levels and the air traffic could approach 2019 levels in 2023, thanks to a strong summer season. This is stated by Fitch Ratings in a new report on the subject. “This near-term strength will be driven by the continued restoration of flying capability and the accelerating recovery of business travel, which has lagged that of leisure,” the research reads.
The rating agency analysts predict that the tariffs of the rooms and prices of tickets will remain highleading to improved profitability for both airlines and hotel operators in 2023. Nonetheless, cost inflation will remain high, particularly for wages, which have been increased to address staff shortages. The prices ofpower instead they are stabilising, easing pressure on airline fuel costs and hotel bills.
According to Fitch, the main risk is a potential decline of the question from fourth quarter 2023, as high inflation in Europe will put pressure on real disposable incomes and consumer confidence will remain weak.
However, this could lead to a relatively short-lived slowdown in industry growth, as i extra savings of households accumulated during the pandemic have not yet been spent. Even the operational interruptions (including union actions such as strikes by French air traffic control) could temper the recovery in air traffic this year, it is underlined.