What Is RevPAR? Revenue per Available Room Explained

Occupancy or rate: which matters more? RevPAR answers that question by combining both in a single figure. That is why it is regarded as the key metric for room sales in the hotel industry, and why it pays to read it correctly.

What RevPAR measures

RevPAR stands for revenue per available room. Unlike the average daily rate (ADR), which only looks at rooms sold, RevPAR includes all rooms, including those that stayed empty. It therefore shows how much room revenue a hotel generates from its entire capacity.

How RevPAR is calculated

There are two equivalent ways. First: occupancy multiplied by the average daily rate. Second: room revenue divided by all available room nights.

An example: a hotel with 40 rooms has 1,200 room nights available in June and sells 900 of them at an average of 110 euros net. Occupancy is 75 per cent and room revenue 99,000 euros. RevPAR is 75 per cent times 110 euros, or 99,000 divided by 1,200: 82.50 euros either way.

Why a full hotel does not automatically earn more

Hotel A is 90 per cent full and sells its rooms for 80 euros on average. Hotel B is only 70 per cent full but charges 110 euros. Hotel A looks more successful, yet achieves a RevPAR of 72 euros, while hotel B reaches 77 euros. Hotel B earns more per room and has fewer rooms to clean.

How RevPAR has developed in Germany

According to the industry report by the German Hotel Association (IHA), average room occupancy rose by 0.9 percentage points to 68.1 per cent in 2025. The net room rate fell by 2.8 per cent to 109 euros, and RevPAR fell accordingly to 74 euros. The association describes this as a phase of price-driven consolidation.¹

What RevPAR does not show

RevPAR measures revenue, not profit. It says nothing about staff, energy or commission costs, and nothing about revenue from breakfast, the restaurant, meetings or the spa. A hotel can increase its RevPAR and still earn less if the additional bookings are expensive to win.

This matters particularly in Germany. According to the IHA, Germany is one of the European hotel markets with the highest cost structure combined with moderate room rates.¹ That is why many hotels add metrics that take costs or total revenue into account, such as GOPPAR or TRevPAR.

What hoteliers should look for

More in the magazine

Why revenue per available room is one of the three figures every hotelier should know is explained by René Kaplick of Gastro Piraten in our article "Digitalised – and still flying blind?". Where occupancy, rates and revenue come together is shown in the glossary entry "What Is a Hotel PMS?".