Travelmole comment: Andy Storey, managing director Europe, Rubicon
Tuesday, 15 Dec, 2010
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Rubicon managing director Europe Andy Storey gives his analysis of the UK capital’s hotel market over the festive season.
"Christmas is coming – and it’s not just Santa Claus who has a mixed bag for the festive period. With the holiday season just around the corner, hotels in London will be hoping for lots of guests to deliver a bit of good cheer. Unfortunately, not everyone is going to get what they want.
We’ve been looking at demand data from 2009 and comparing it to forward bookings for this year to see how the accommodation sector is faring. The general trend for the last 10 days in December reveals that demand is pretty much flat across the capital, with rates typically hanging around 2009 levels. However, there are signs that the economy is recovering when we get to the New Year.
Occupancy and rates leap from December 31 – it’s a pretty sure sign that consumer confidence is returning if people are booking in the first week of January, since this coincides with the New Year celebrations and the New Year sales.
Occupancy is currently running at around 50% up, and as you’d expect, a lot of this growth is fuelled by a significant increase in group bookings (up almost 68% compared to last year). This could well be tour operator business, consisting of out of town bargain hunters staying over for a West End splurge – potentially good news for retailers.
Taking the entire Christmas and New Year period as a whole, the London market is running 13.5% ahead of 2009. But this doesn’t mean revenue managers can crank up the prices.
Our analysis shows clearly that visitors are increasingly drawn to the non-luxury sector. Clients are opting for mid-scale properties, where occupancy is up 12.7%. This trading down sees luxury occupancy down almost 6%, an indictor that people are not confident enough in the upturn to splash out big time on their accommodation.
London hotels can use this information to their advantage, keeping ahead of their competitors and set pricing and marketing accordingly."
* Rubicon is a market intelligence company.
Dinah
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