A busy month of political and sporting events and the start of the corporate season, coupled with an Indian summer, boosted UK hotels performance in September, according to preliminary figures released by business advisory and accountancy firm, BDO.
Occupancy was yet again the star of the show as regional hotels experienced a 4.7% increase in occupancy to 83.7%, while London hotel occupancy was up 2.9% to 89.1%.
The NATO Summit in Wales, the One Day Internationals across the country and the start of the corporate season all helped to drive demand in London and the regions.
Average room rate for the regions increased 9.9% to £64.99, and resulted in double-digit rooms yield growth (up 15.1% to £54.39). Rooms yield for the capital was up 2.2% to £119.84 despite room rate remaining stable at £134.48 (-0.6).
Robert Barnard, partner at BDO LLP, commented:
“We all know that good weather brings tourists out in droves and the sunny September we’ve just experienced was testament to that. Couple this with the start of the corporate season and significant political and sporting events, hotels flourished in September. The UK hotel industry has certainly picked up in 2014.”
Preliminary data for September 2014
Final data for August 2014
BDO’s hotel trends surveys feature a broad range of hotels across the country although mainly in the 3 – 4 star categories and featuring rather more chain operated hotels than those operated independently. While there are a fair number of hotels in country and rural areas, there is a predominance of hotels in towns and cities. In London, supply featured is mainly in the 3 –5 star categories. The definitions of the key terms used in the surveys are as follows:
- Room occupancy: the ratio of total occupied rooms to total available rooms
- Average achieved room rate (AARR): rooms revenue divided by the total number of guest rooms occupied during the year
- Rooms yield: room occupancy multiplied by the average achieved room rate (also known as RevPar).