Sporting events continue to drive hotel demand around the globe, and there's none bigger than Formula 1 racing.
Sarah Duignan, STR’s director of client relationships, joined the latest episode of “The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News” podcast to dig into the hotel data and impact of sports and major events on certain markets. Throughout 2025, Formula 1 events drove hotel demand and rates.
Take Abu Dhabi for an example. In 2022 during the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 race event, hotel occupancy in the market was 93%. The market reached that occupancy level in 2025, too, but the difference between those two years was clearly average daily rate.
In 2022, Abu Dhabi hotel ADR was approximately $500, but in 2025 it was closing in on $900, an 80% jump, Duignan said. Its ADR across the two weeks either side of the early December race hovered around $200, so 350% less.
That’s full-throttle driving.
“Abu Dhabi, in my humble opinion, is the most-exciting Formula 1 race of the season. … It is currently the last race of the season,” she said, adding that at the beginning of the race there were three drivers in contention to be the overall season champion.
Monaco remains No. 1 in terms of hotel ADR performance around F1 events, but Monaco's hotels are historic and unique.
During Monaco’s 2025 Formula 1 race, hotel “revenue per available room was $30 shy of $3,000,” Duignan said.
For more from STR's Sarah Duignan on sporting events, on hotel performance and on hotel pipeline, among other subjects, please click here.