UK hotels’ performance falters in February
UK hotels’ performance in both the regions and London faltered slightly in February stalling the recovery curve that has been evident since November 2001, according to PKF’s preliminary figures.
Occupancy rates held up reasonably well – a drop of 0.2% in UK regional hotels and only 3.1% down in London which was the smallest fall since February 2001. However, room rates dropped by 1.9% and 11.5% respectively, pulling the performance recovery curve down from January 2002. In London, rooms yield dropped 14.2% on 2001 figures to £82.98 and by 2.0% in the regions to £44.18. (January’s corresponding figures were drops of 13.9% and 0.2%.)
The capital’s reliance on the domestic market was increasingly apparent in February as the proportion of UK hotel visitors rose by 20.2% on this time last year. In contrast, the proportion of US visitors dropped by 13.2% and of European by 2%.
Melvin Gold, Managing Director of Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF, said: “The February results are slightly surprising as we had expected that the slow but gradual recovery would continue. It is encouraging that occupancy rates are holding up reasonably well but there has definitely been a pause for breath on the room rates front.
“We anticipate the positive forecasts on the UK economy will hasten the return of the more lucrative business segment of the hotels market, and that foreign visitors will become increasingly more numerous, enabling hoteliers to improve room rate performance. The early Easter holiday may also help to kick start the traditional holiday season.”
Preliminary Data for February 2002
|
Rooms Department |
2002 |
2001 |
% change |
|
UK Regional Hotels (552) |
|
|
|
|
Average daily room rate per occupied room |
£62.70 |
£63.88 |
-1.9 |
|
Average daily room occupancy |
69.0 |
69.1 |
-0.2 |
|
Average daily rooms yield per available room |
£43.28 |
£44.18 |
-2.0 |
|
London Hotels (127) |
|
|
|
|
Average daily room rate per occupied room |
£97.22 |
£109.86 |
-11.5 |
|
Average daily room occupancy |
73.2 |
75.5 |
-3.1 |
|
Average daily rooms yield per available room |
£71.18 |
£82.98 |
-14.2 |
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