Occupancies drop as 11 September anniversary looms

10 September 2002 by
Occupancies drop as 11 September anniversary looms

London hotels are facing a lull in occupancy during the first two weeks of September in the run-up to the anniversary of the twin towers attacks.

The downturn coincides with a huge reduction in demand for flights to and from the USA. British Airways, for example has cancelled 26 flights on 11 September.

"We have noticed a general decrease in business levels in the first two weeks of September, although it picks up in the third week," said a spokeswoman for the Savoy Group, which has four hotels in central London. She attributed the lull to the 11 September anniversary.

Le Méridien, which has 19 hotels in the UK, including five in central London, attracts a lot of business from the Middle East.

"London is not benefiting from the high volumes of business from the Middle East usually experienced at this time of year," said Robbi Bishop, vice-president sales UK & Ireland. "Our September corporate business has also been impacted by the airlines cutting their transatlantic flights."

Talk of war with Iraq could be compounding the general unease surrounding 11 September. A British Tourist Authority spokeswoman said: "In our US office the feeling is that a section of American society will not want to travel. This is a combination of fear around the anniversary of 11 September and talk of a possible outbreak of war in Iraq."

But hotels not so reliant on American tourists and business travellers are faring better. Gordon Campbell Gray, managing director of London's One Aldwych, said the hotel was expecting a "bumper" September. "Occupancy in September is around 90%, but then we've never been reliant on trade specifically from North America," he said.

by Christina Golding

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