London hotel bookings fall in August

London hotels suffered from the July bombings last month but provincial hotel sales were buoyant, according to TRI Hospitality Consulting.

The firm's latest HotStats survey covering 475 hotels in the month of August reveals a 9% drop in revenue per available room (revpar) to £57.77 at London properties.

Occupancy at London hotels also fell from 82.8% to 73%.

But hotels in the provinces saw a rise in revpar, which increased 3.6% to £47.04.

This figure is slightly above the trend for the year-to-date.

Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI, said: "Some visitors, probably UK domestic leisure travellers, decided not to come to London during August and have taken holidays outside the capital instead."

He added, results from September and October would give a clearer indication of any lasting damage.

By Amy Abrahams

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