Hotel market recovery

Although the predictions for the recovery of the hotel market in the UK were cautious at best, good news has hit London hoteliers in particular, with the capital showing strong recovery signs across the board.

The research conducted by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services found that for the first six months of the year, occupancy was up 2.3% compared with the same period last year and both room rates and yield were also on the rise, with growth of 7.1% and 3.1% respectively.

Chain hotels in London have also performed strongly, according to TRI Hospitality Consulting, whose HotStats survey found that RevPAR was up by 15.8% and Gross Operating Profit per Available Room by 14.9% in June. Although arguably, June is traditionally a good month due to strong business and leisure demand as well as major events.

The picture for the regions is not as encouraging unfortunately, and despite a rise in occupancy of 3.1% in the first six months of the year, both room rates and yield declined – by 3.7% and 0.8% respectively.

Prospects for the rest of the year are still uncertain, although the situation in London – which traditionally leads the way in the country when the recovery starts – does allow for an optimistic outlook for the hotel industry overall.