27 July 2010

Good news for London hotels

Latest figures on the state of the UK hotel market show London hotels are now entering the recovery stage, but those in the regions are not out of the woods yet.

Results from the first half of the year, released today by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services, showed room rate and rooms yield in the regions are still lagging.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe figures for London over the first half of this year suggest the capital is firmly into its recovery stage which is positive,Ã¢â¬~ said Robert Barnard, partner for Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe picture is not exactly the same in the regions, but the increases in occupancy levels so far this year are a good sign for hoteliers.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe knew at the beginning of this year that over the 12 months of 2010, hoteliers could only expect a slow recovery. So far the figures are in line with this and therefore I think hoteliers can feel relatively positive.Ã¢â¬~

Year to date figures in London demonstrate a healthy recovery.

For the first six months of the year, occupancy was up 2.3% in the capital on the same period last year, from 78.5% to 80.3%.

Room rates were also up, by 7.1%, from Ã&#pound;110.51 to Ã&#pound;118.40 and, overall, rooms yield was up 9.6% from Ã&#pound;86.78 to Ã&#pound;95.09.

In the regions, occupancy was up 3.1% from 65.2% in 2009 to 67.2% this year.

However, room rate declined year on year from January to June by 3.7%, from Ã&#pound;62.65 in 2009 to Ã&#pound;60.31 in 2010.

Rooms yield also declined and was down 0.8% to Ã&#pound;40.55.

Figures just released from TRI Hospitality Consulting also showed a strong performance in London.

Its latest HotStats survey of UK chain hotels showed rates in London have surged through their previous peak of June 2008.

A year-on-year increase in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) of 15.8% in the month of June has led to a 14.9% increase in Gross Operating Profit per Available Room at London hotels.

The strong RevPAR growth in London was led by an exceptional increase in achieved average room rate of 11.2%, to Ã&#pound;131.23.

TRI said June is traditionally the strongest performing month in the capital, driven by a good mix of commercial and leisure demand and boosted by major events such as Wimbledon.

As a result, London hoteliers recorded the highest room occupancy levels of the year in June, at 87.5%, an increase of 3.4 percentage points against 2009.

By Bev Fearis