Hoteliers felt the ‘economic chill' in November

Profit per room declined in London and the provinces in November as hoteliers felt the economic chill.

According to the HotStats survey of 550 hotels by TRI Hospitality Consulting average room rate grew in London for the 25th consecutive month (£139.20), but room occupancy declined by 1.9 percentage points. In the provinces room rate suffered a 1.3% year on year decline to £69.47.

Meanwhile, volume in the capital remains strong at 82.6% and is stable at 70% elsewhere.

Room rates in London were put under pressure by uncharacteristic declines in the corporate (-1.4%) and leisure (-3.4%) sectors. In contrast, average rates in the conference sector grew 13.4% to £162.07.

London hotels suffered a slight decline in revenue per available room, down 0.2% to £114.98, while in was down 1.2% to £48.66 elsewhere.

"Whilst for much of the year the London hotel market appeared infallible, it is sobering to know that one of the strongest markets in Europe and the world is susceptible to the ongoing global economic challenges," said Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting.

"That said, due to a strong period of operation in the first nine months of the year, it is unlikely that the decline in headline performance levels in recent months will prevent the city from achieving a second consecutive year of strong growth in profit per room.

"However, the Provincial hotel market has recorded only two months of profit growth so far in 2011."

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