Rate Drives Double Digit Growth in London

UK Chain Hotels Market Review - February 2007

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. October 14, 2008

APRIL 3, 32007. Soaring room rates in London have enabled hoteliers in the capital to record a double digit increase in revenue per available room, the latest numbers from TRI Hospitality Consulting's HotStats survey show.

Rate drives double digit growth in London

---|Soaring room rates in London have enabled hoteliers in the capital to record a double digit increase in revenue per available room, the latest numbers from TRI Hospitality Consulting's HotStats survey show.

--During the first two months of this year room rates have increased by 11.6 per cent to reach lb104.60. Occupancy has been steadier with a rise of just 0.9 percentage points to hit 75.8 per cent. Even with the modest rise in occupancy, the sharp hike in room rates has enabled room revpar to increase by 13.0 per cent.

---|'While not high compared to peak times of the year, the occupancy rate at the start of this year is strong and not surprisingly it is rate where hoteliers have made the most progress,' said Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting.

---|Occupancy has also only seen limited growth in the provinces, up 0.5 points to reach 63.4 per cent, but the increase in rate is also significantly less than in London.

---|Room rates in provincial hotels were up 3.2 per cent to lb70.15 delivering a room revpar rise of 4.0 per cent. 'The increase in revpar in the provinces is by no means poor but it is much more subdued when compared to the ebullience shown by London,' said Langston.

February emphasises rate even more

---|Looking at just the month of February shows that the rise in revpar in London hotels for that month compared to the same month a year earlier was almost entirely down to a rise in rate. Occupancy was up just 0.1 points.

---|Room rates at hotels in the capital were up 11.3 per cent to lb105.81 and this meant room revpar was up a healthy 11.5 per cent.

---|Provincial hotels shared the almost static occupancy with a rise of just 0.2 points but rate was up much less, by 2.9 per cent to lb70.72.

---|'Hoteliers in the UK outside of London have been unable to match the room rate increases put through in the capital,' said Langston.

Arrivals data is promising

---|The official trade body representing the inbound tourism industry in the UK, UKinbound, found in its monthly survey that visitor arrivals were 17.1 per cent higher in January than in the same month a year earlier.

---|The organisation commented that the reasons for this hike were unclear but it warned that the fragility of the US economy was a major concern. Forward bookings were up by a more subdued 6.7 per cent, perhaps reflecting this.

---|Airports operator BAA said that total traffic at its seven UK airports, which included Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, was up 0.6 per cent in February compared to February last year.

---|North Atlantic traffic fell by 0.9 per cent although European scheduled traffic was up 1.9 per cent. 'Visitor arrivals data has been more volatile than the performance of UK hotels in the last few years and the sharp rise in January may prove a blip. If it proves durable, however, a strong influx of tourists can only help boost hotel trading,' said Langston.

For more information contact Jonathan Langston on 020 7486 5191 or email [email protected].