Hotels in London are reporting strong business immediately after this summer’s Olympic Games – dispelling fears that the capital could suffer a post-games slump.
Data compiled by leading hotel market intelligence firm, TravelClick, shows almost a third of London’s hotel rooms are already sold for the August Bank Holiday weekend (August 24-27), an improvement of 24.2 percent in comparison to last year. Prices over the four days are up 25.2 percent at an average daily rate of £128.59 compared with the same period in 2011.
“Our research after the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 showed critical insight into the demand trends for hotels when they over-price rooms for special events, since it has the tendency to result in an immediate drop-off in business after the spike associated with the Olympic games,” said Jan Tissera, international president of TravelClick. “So far it appears London hoteliers are not falling into that trap.
“The capital has solid interest throughout the Bank Holiday Weekend, and although prices are up in comparison to last year, the rises are being kept in line with the demand. We hope this trend continues into the autumn when business traveller demand begins to rise in comparison leisure customers.”
TravelClick’s data – which is drawn from travel agents, online booking sites and the hotel chains themselves – also reveals that Saturday, August 25 is the busiest day of the holiday weekend, with confirmed occupancy currently standing at 38.1% according to reservations currently on the books.