Room rate up at provincial hotels but London dips

Average room rate in UK provincial hotels rose during July for the fifth month running, confounding gloomy predictions about the impact of foot-and-mouth on forward bookings, says a survey by accountants PKF.

In London, by contrast, the effects of the US recession kicked in, sending room rates and revenues plummeting.

The survey of 377 UK regional hotels found average room rate rose by 2.8% to £66.34, while revenue per available room was up by 1.7% at £50.70. Occupancy was down by less than 1%, from 77.2% to 76.4%.

PKF consultant Robert Barnard said the figures reflected a buoyancy in business travel and continuing confidence in the domestic economy.

The picture in the capital was very different. Average room rate plunged by 12.2% to £118.45, and revenue per available room fell by 17.2% to £98.36.

At 107 London hotels PKF found occupancy fell by 5.8%, from 88.1% in July 2000 to 83% last month. This was smaller than in June (6.3%) or May (9.7%).

Melvin Gold, managing director of hotel consultancy at PKF, said: "While the London figures are no surprise given the deepening of the US recession, it is very heartening that the rest of the UK hotel market appears to be confounding the doom and gloom forecasts for summer bookings."

by Ben Walker