With one year to go until London welcomes athletes to the 2012 Olympic Games, hoteliers in the capital have been breaking records of their own this month as room occupancy levels reached an extraordinary 92.4%, according to TRI Hospitality Consulting’s latest HotStats survey of approximately 550 full-service hotels across the UK.
Not only did hoteliers in London successfully achieve a 0.6 percentage point year-on-year increase in room occupancy following the staggering 91.8% achieved during the same period in 2010, but room rates also soared. At £148.65 the achieved average room rate for the month is the highest recorded. This is 0.6% above the previous high, which was achieved last month.
“This is way beyond forecast expectations, but who would have predicted a year-on-year increase on a plus 90% occupancy? But that’s what London is all about at the moment. There is a buzz across the capital as millions of people are coming to see what the 2012 Olympic city has to offer,” said Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting.
It was hard to imagine that an increase on the 2010 room occupancy levels was possible, particularly as the city was almost filled to capacity with visitors to the biennial Farnborough Air Show. However, the timing of Ramadan in August of this year has meant that Middle Eastern visitors who typically come to London during the summer in search of a more temperate climate have primarily travelled during July.
Whilst high net-worth individuals from the Middle East will typically use five-star hotels such as the newly-opened Corinthia, W Hotel and the recently re-opened Four Seasons Park Lane, as well as high profile properties such The Dorchester, The Lanesborough and the Mandarin Oriental, the overwhelming requirement for accommodation in the city has meant that demand from the upscale properties has been displaced down to four and three-star hotels, properties which are typically represented in the HotStats survey.
“With results defying expectations, it’s difficult to forecast what is going to happen in London and even though there will be less demand from Middle Eastern guests due to the timing of Ramadan, further growth in London cannot be ruled out,” said Langston.
TRI Hospitality Consulting provides a wide range of services to clients in the hotel sector. It has offices in London, Dubai and Madrid.
For more information contact: Jonathan Langston, managing director 020 7892 2201