Commercial sector spurs on hotel profit per room boost of 9%
Profit per room at UK hotels saw a 9% year-on-year increase in October, according to the latest data from HotStats tracking full-service hotels.
Strong growth was recorded across all revenue-generating departments and driven by a range of demand sources, led by an 8.3% increase in revenue per available room (revpar) to £102.67.
This was fuelled by a 2.3 percentage point growth in room occupancy to 83.5%, and a 5.3% rise in average room rate to £122.92.
UK hotels also achieved year-on-year increases in non-room revenues, including food & beverage (+4.3%) and conference & banqueting (+5.7%), on a per-available-room basis.
The growth across all departments contributed to the 6.6% year-on-year increase in total revpar for the month to £156.36. While this was behind the 2018 peak of £162.59, recorded in July, it remained 10.4% above the year-to-date figure at £141.58.
Michael Grove, director of intelligence and customer solutions, EMEA, at HotStats, commented: "The robust top-line performance in October was led by demand from the commercial sector, which accounted for almost 40% of all accommodated room nights.
"Demand levels were also supported by the ongoing political party conference season and leisure demand from school half-term holidays. And despite Storm Callum bringing severe flooding to parts of the UK, it was a relatively settled picture, which even included a royal wedding."
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