European hotels experienced a 5.6 percent growth in operations last year compared to 2010, despite economic instability.

According to a European Cities Marketing report, the increase was due to a boost in occupancy and growth in average daily rates.

The report found that all 27 countries in the European Union (s well as Switzerland) posted an increase over 2010 in growth.

Poland saw the strongest improvement with 9.4 percent growth over figures from 2010, while strongest hotel activity came from the UK, France, Germany and Benelux.

Occupancy rose by 66 percent, two points higher than in 2010, the report revealed.  

“This strong demand justified a significant improvement in the average daily rate, an indicator of the shift of the vast majority of European cities into the upper part of the hotel cycle,” the report read.