Hotels all across the UK are still enjoying healthy rises in room occupancy and falls in room rates, according to new research by business advisory firm BDO LLP.
The 'Olympic effect' is particularly being seen in London, with occupancy in July having risen from 79.2 per cent to 87.1 per cent year-on-year. Furthermore, across the three-to-five star hotels which were monitored by BDO, room rates fell by a mammoth 13.6 per cent to £138.20 when compared to the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. This means that room yield also fell by five per cent to £120.36.
Beyond the capital city, regional hotels saw occupancy rise from 75.3 per cent to 80.4 per cent, while room rates also fell, but only by 1.4 per cent on the previous year to £59.09.
Robert Barnard, partner at BDO LLP, praised the figures, suggesting that the hotel investment sector is proving to be both fruitful and contributory towards gradual economic recovery. He said: "This is another strong showing by regional operators - their impressive performance during the first half of the year shows no signs of slowing down. I'd caution against reading too much into the drop in rooms yield in London, because the comparison is against the month in which the city began hosting the Olympics. The fact that occupancy is almost 90 per cent is a better indicator of the capital’s current strength."
Mr Barnard added that, regionally, slow development over the past few years has allowed operators to manage occupancy and room rate carefully during times when demand may have not been so high. He concluded that the sector should not "get carried away", but investors can be quite positive about the overall outlook in the near future.