Festivals in Basel and Cannes are filling up hotels as visitors flock to the French Riviera and Swiss Mountains.
This year, Basel and Cannes will see a big increase in bookings for the arts. Eurovision, Art Basel as well as the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Lion Festival, and the Cannes Film Festival are all expected to draw large crowds.
Hotels expect a sold-out performance at Eurovision, Art Basel and Cannes Film Festival
Basel, Cannes and other major cities have an exciting cultural calendar this year. There are many events of importance that will likely set new records.
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Basel will be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025, with the final on May 17 and the build-up starting the week of the 12th. Art Basel will then take place between June 19 and 22.
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Cannes has also two major events in H1: the Cannes Film Festival, from May 13 to 24; and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, from June 16-20.
These events are major demand drivers. They attract tens and thousands of tourists during this period, which prompts hotels to expect very high occupancy rates.
It’s evident that the H1 revenue performance of hotels will be determined by unavailable properties (properties that are not listed because they have sold out, been closed or enforced length-of stay restrictions on their inventory).
Inventory is decreasing in both cities. In Cannes, only one out of ten properties was listed for sale at the time the article was written. At the peak of Lions Festival all properties were listed to be unavailable.
Basel offers a slightly better outlook for travelers hoping to get a last-minute flight and hotel. As of the date of this writing, about three-quarters (75%) of hotels are listed as unavailable. This is true for both Eurovision, and Art Basel.
Basel, Cannes and other cities are seeing a surge in demand for hotels
Although there are already a number of hotel reservations, indicators indicate that demand will likely increase in the final few weeks.
Our composite demand metric shows blocks with high demand for Eurovision Art Basel and Cannes Film Festival. There are also spikes of demand on June 15, 19 and 20 during the Cannes Lions.
In the last case, this metric is not accurate as much of the demand was generated by the marketing industry. Corporate bookings were made in advance and often via GDS systems.
For Eurovision, demand builds steadily up to the final, while for Art Basel, it’s more front-loaded – peaking between June 16 and 18 as art buyers arrive and festivities ramp up, including a major art fair in the days leading up to the main event.
The Film Festival in Cannes has a clearly defined window of demand, with indicators rising from 13 to 24 June. In contrast, the peak demand for Cannes Lions occurs on June 19 but is less visible due to corporate audience who books through channels which are not normally captured in leisure data.
A year-on-year comparison of forward demand indicators makes it clear why hoteliers in Basel are optimistic – and why they’ve set high prices for their rooms.
The composite measure for the Eurovision final is +188%, nearly double the value of the same day last season.
Art Basel 2024 will run from June 13-16.ThThe daily indicators, which are down by 75% in the peak year of 2024 for what would have been the demand, rise to +153% when it comes to 2025. This indicates a general YoY demand growth.
Cannes shows a more nuanced picture. The daily demand for the two events is barely growing year over year, despite their almost identical timing in 2024.
Demand for the Film Festival is comparable to last year, with a decrease in demand during the middle of festival and an increase at its end.
The Lions Festival on the other side does not show an increase in demand. Forward demand has actually dropped by 30% since June 19. This is likely due to the corporate audience that attends the festival and whose bookings are often outside the traditional demand signals.
Recent price peaks for Basel & Cannes
The local hospitality market is boosted by these events, which are driving rates to the highest level.
The average price for Eurovision week is 87% higher than the same week in the year 2024. That week did not have a similar major event. Art Basel prices, however, have only increased 5% in comparison to the same period between 2024-2025.
The peak price for the Cannes Film Festival in 2025 will be 20% higher than it was in 2024. This is a significant jump, particularly when you consider the rates that were already high last year.
It appears that hotels in Cannes have missed an opportunity to raise prices for the Lions Festival. Average weekly rates are down 10% on average from year to year. We’ll see that there has been an ongoing increase, which we’ll examine later.
Eurovision is the second most expensive festival at $501 per day, followed by Art Basel. Cannes Film Festival has the highest nightly rate, reaching $705 at its peak on 15 May. The Lions Festival, on the other hand, has the lowest rate at $429 per day, which is still double the typical rate in the city.
Basel and Cannes hotel room prices during high events
The hotels don’t just set and forget their prices, even though they have seen a significant increase in price YoY.
As hotels attempt to sell their remaining inventory, or increase prices to meet the rising demand, we see wild swings in advertised prices.
In recent weeks there has been a distinct divergence in the hospitality markets of Basel and Cannes. Hotels in Basel are generally lowering their prices, while hotels in Cannes are pushing up rates.
In a comparison of late April to the end of April, it is clear that hotels in Basel have lowered their rates on Eurovision rooms. Prices have dropped between 11% and 24 % in the week before the final. The average rate has fallen by 15% on the final day.
Prices can fall just before major events. as our research has found.
Cannes is an entirely different story. The biggest monthly change during the Film Festival is the 41% increase of average daily rates on 15 May. Even more striking, hotels have raised prices by 71% on June 15 – the day before the Lions Festival begins – within just the past 30 days.
This is due to the combination of extremely limited stock and still-emerging demand.
The number of queries on online travel agencies (OTAs) and metasearch for hotels in Cannes is high between May 15-19, aligning with the highest increases in average room prices during the Film Festival.
These data suggest that Cannes hotels may have underestimated the true interest of the Lions event as rates have been reduced year on year.
Hoteliers are likely to have relied on demand indicators in the past and misinterpreted a weaker than expected outlook. They may not have realized that corporate bookings have actually obscured true demand.
Inventory is very limited, and many potential attendees are still looking to book.
This rapidly changing and complex picture reinforces the need to have a good understanding of market trends, demand signals, and competitor behavior.
Hotels with a good idea of the market and unavailability would have seen a potential sell out.
This is a great way to make your home more beautiful. predictive demand intelligence It is important to take advantage of trends and develop revenue management strategies in line with the market’s behavior.
Predictive market intelligence is the key to success for events
The hotel market is affected by major events such as the Cannes Film Festival and Eurovision. These events can have a dramatic impact on demand, so it is important to be prepared.
To be ahead of the game, you need to have more than intuition. You need to be able to see real-time demand and have the confidence to act.
You can also find out more about Lighthouse’s Market InsightYou can track the interest in key events day-by-day, identify surges in demand before your competition, and adjust pricing strategies before the window expires.
Plan smarter. React quicker. Make the most out of every opportunity.
Lighthouse
Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We convert complexity into confidence through actionable insights, business analytics, and price tools that maximize revenue. We are constantly innovating to provide the best platform to hospitality professionals so they can price more effectively, understand the market better, and measure performance more accurately.
Lighthouse, the only platform that offers real-time data on hotels and short-term rentals in 185 different countries, is trusted by more than 65,000 hotels. We aim to provide the best experience possible with unparalleled customer service. We view our clients as partners, and their success is also our success.
This article was originally published on Lighthouse.
