Occupancy Rates for London Hotels on the Rise

For the month of September total revenue on hotel rooms was on the rise according to data released in the most recent HotStats survey conducted by TRI hospitality Consulting. Analysts announced that gross profit for each available room had risen by about £54.85 over the course of this year.

Similarly, occupancy rates for London hotels has also risen this year by about 1.3 per cent since this same time last year, bringing totally occupancy rates to 83.4 per cent. These figures, along with overall increase in profits being 43 per cent higher during September than in August, indicates that business travellers are now steadily returning to the capital.

Jonathan Langston, managing director for TRI, said that occupancy in London’s hotels had steadily declined after the Lehman Brothers collapsed and a banking crisis ensued. But currently, the strong volume being achieved in the capital city along with cost control measures and softer comparables for 2008 have managed to stave off declines for profits this year.

The return of business travellers to the capital city has helped average hotel room rates to increase by up to 13 per cent in September in comparison to August, which is usually a month with only holiday travellers. However, currently average hotel rates stand at 4.8 per cent lower than September of last year.

The lowered prices indicate that hotel retailers are still having to rely heavily on discounts and promotions to bring up occupancy for September. The reports indicate that provinces need to pull away form relying on discount room rates to drive up occupancy, which currently is being done on a widespread basis to attract patrons.