Regional UK Hotels Look Set for Third Year of Growth
LONDON, UK, November 9, 2006. London has dominated media coverage of the UK hotel market for the past year, and for some very good reasons. Its excellent performance, building on from the 7/7 recovery, makes good headlines. However, hotels outside the capital also have good stories to tell, with some markets matching London's achievements.
Latest results for the first nine months of 2006 from the HotelBenchmark(TM) Survey show some cities have seen double-digit increases in revenue per available room (revPAR) while the average growth rate across the UK regions stands at 4.1%, compared to the same period last year. Assuming the picture remains the same for the rest of the year, this will add up to the regional UK hotel market's third year of growth.
Of the 20 cities tracked by the UK survey (excluding London) Aberdeen, Belfast, Liverpool and Reading are particularly strong; with Aberdeen and Belfast experiencing double-digit growth. And in markets where hotel performance has not been so hot, several initiatives are underway to encourage more visitors to spend more time and money in regional Britain. Visit Britain and Ukinbound, for instance, have joined forces to present British Tourism Week next March; and a campaign to entice more French visitors to the East Midlands is gaining ground.
Meanwhile, the continuing strength of the UK hotel industry is attracting investors, and this year has been a dynamic one for acquisitions. As the UK's tourism infrastructure looks forward to considerable investment in the run up to the 2012 Olympics, we take a look at the current strengths of the home markets.
View across Britain
Latest UK indicators confirm a healthy and expanding tourism industry. According to Visit Britain, arrivals during the first eight months of 2006 were up 7% on the same period last year. This has been good news for the regional UK hotel market, and most cities have enjoyed revPAR growth. However, as shown below, it's not all good news. While some cities recorded growth of more than 10%, others struggled to improve on last year's performance.
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