UK hotels performing reasonably well in slowdown

Although hotels in the UK reported slow growth in October, overall the industry is still holding up reasonably well, according to a hotel consultancy firm PKF.

London room rates rose by 0.1 per cent over October of last year, to £147.45, but the economic slowdown saw business occupancy down by 3.2 per cent, from 86.5 per cent to 83.8 per cent.

Room yield in London dropped by 3.1 per cent, down from £127.58 in October of last year to £123.61 this October.

Outside of the capital occupancy fell by 5.8 per cent from 2007, down from 77.2 per cent to 72.7 per cent.

Room rates outside of London also were down, by 1.75 per cent, to £76.19 which meant that yield was down by 7.6 per cent from 2007, dropping from £59.70 to £55.42.

In some cities, room rates saw an increase, with both Leeds and Liverpool bucking the trend downward.

Robert Barnard, hotel consultancy services partner with PKF Hotel Consultancy Services, said: “The continued global economic woes mean that the lack of growth experienced by many hoteliers in October, was to be expected.”

He went on to say: “It is important to note that the falls overall were fairly moderate and the industry, while feeling the effects, is still holding its own. Occupancy in the capital is still at 83.8%, while in the UK as a whole, the hotels in our survey are at 72.7% of their capacity.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.pkf.co.uk