Both revenue and occupancy continues to fall at European hotels.

A year-to-date report from research company Deloitte shows that revenue per available room (revPAR) in the euro zone was down 19.2 per cent - at €58 - on last year.

The decline was driven by a 12.3 per cent drop in average room rates to just €108, while occupancy levels fell to 61.6 per cent.

The country that has suffered most from the recession during 2009 is Spain, where two key cities, Barcelona and Madrid, have reported revPAR declines of 22.5 per cent and 30.5 per cent respectively.

UK too, has suffered, although the staycation effect has offset the fall in inbound tourism. London boasts the highest occupancy in Europe at 79.8 per cent, while Glasgow and Edinburgh were the only two cities in Europe to show positive occupancy growth for the period.

Alex Kyriakidis, global managing partner of Tourism Hospitality & Leisure at Deloitte, said: "The past year has been one of turbulence for European hoteliers as the economic crisis has taken its toll.

Soaring unemployment, the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus and the strength of the Euro against many world currencies has seriously impacted hotel performance in Europe.

"As many consumers chose the staycation over travelling abroad, and businesses tightened their purse strings on corporate travel - hotels, airlines and tour operators all saw a fall in performance and sales this year. Every city across the region reported declines in revPAR year-to-September, some hit more severely than others."