Capital's chains still profitable

London's chain hotels have continued to make a profit despite the fall in occupancy, according to hospitality consultancy TRI's latest figures.

London occupancy fell by 10 percentage points to 78.2% compared with September last year, while average room rate fell by 9.5% to £86.73. Revenue per available bedroom was nearly 20% down.

The report, which covered three- and four-star chain hotels, said four star-hotels had suffered most, but they would be the first to recover when business returned.

Outside London, the impact of the events of 11 September was minimal. There was a drop of just 1.4 percentage points in occupancy to 74.5%, which was compensated for by a growth in achieved room rate of 3.3% to £63.08.

Overall revenue per available room was 1.3 percentage points ahead of last year.