‘Flight to value’ benefits budget hotel chain
Monday, 13 Oct, 2009
0
Premier Inn parent Whitbread says the budget chain outperformed the market in the first half of the year.
Giving half year results for the six months ended August 27, the company said Premier Inn revpar was down 9.2%, against the overall UK hotel market which was down by 11%.
Premier Inn sales increased by 0.4% to £312.1 million, with like for like sales declining by 7.5% in the period.
The UK’s largest hotel chain benefited from a “flight to value” by both business and leisure customers.
Premier Inn continues to attract business travellers, with 15% more members joining its Business Account scheme year-on-year.
“Although overall spend on the Account is down by 4%, as smaller businesses cut back on travel, our top 300 managed accounts have increased their spend by 16%,” the company said.
Online booking distribution channels have been widened for Premier Inn, bringing in new revenue streams and introducing new leisure customers to the brand, the company said.
“We have developed a strong platform for further growth and have successfully tested dynamic pricing in a series of locations,” the half-year results statement said.
“Dynamic pricing delivers automated, flexible pricing appropriate to each hotel and will be rolled out to the whole estate by the end of the year.”
Including this year’s openings, around 10,000 rooms are in the pipeline, of which 7,000 are committed and 3,000 are in a landbank.
“This is equivalent to our total room expansion over the last three years.”
This includes recently announced plans to build four new hotels (1,570 rooms) at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted on a phased basis from 2011.
Seven new hotels in the UK and 1,077 rooms were in the first half of the year.
“In the second half we will continue our growth bringing the UK total for the year to over 1,600 rooms,” the company said.
“Overseas, we opened a hotel in Dubai and we will open our first hotel in Bangalore, India later this month.”
Whitbread, which also includes Costa and restaurant businesses, saw total revenue rise by 3.1% to £703.3 million with pre-tax profit before exceptional items down 10.4% to £110.5 million.
Chief executive Alan Parker said: “In the face of the toughest trading conditions for years, we have taken strong management actions to outperform the market and reduce costs.
“Encouraging progress has been made, which has continued into the second half of the year.
“Whitbread’s value for money brands have considerable appeal for today’s price conscious customers.
“We remain confident about the outturn for the year, subject to any marked deterioration in the economic environment.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt