Momentum building in UK hotels sector
August's figures for hotel performance should give operators confidence as they head into autumn, according to the latest statistics from business advisory firm BDO.
After analysing a broad range of independent and chain hotels, mainly in the three-to-four star sector in the regions and the three-to-five star sector in London, the forecast for the coming months is optimistic.
In the regions, a 0.3% year-on-year rise in average room rate during August to £60.43, coupled with a 7.2% increase in occupancy to 79.2%, resulted in a 7.5% improvement in rooms yield at £47.87.
In London, occupancy increased by 5.4% to 85.9%, but room rate dropped by 15.5% from to £124.7, due to the boost in figures during August 2012 from the Olympics. As a result, rooms yield fell by 10.9% to £107.13.
Robert Barnard, partner at BDO, said that these latest set of strong results suggests that momentum is beginning to build in the UK hotel sector. "The industry was badly hit when the economy first hit trouble, and it appears that hotels are among the early beneficiaries of the nascent economic recovery.
"Hotels in London posted a 44.4% rise in rooms yield this time last year thanks to the Olympics and Paralympics, so a 10.9% decline in August 2013 should be viewed in a very positive light.
"In the regions, operators are able to increase occupancy by over 7% without having to resort to price cuts, which is an encouraging sign."
Hotels results for July provide cautious optimism for future >>
