London hoteliers boost profits

28th October 2009, 9:24am

London hoteliers have successfully improved profitability and boosted total revenue per available room (TrevPAR), according to the latest HotStats survey by industry experts TRI Hospitality Consulting.

While payroll levels remained relatively stable, the London hotel market has seen an uplift in Gross Operating Profit per available room (GOP PAR) by almost 43% compared to last month. Average room occupancy levels in London also increased to 83.4% in September, exceeding levels achieved last year by 1.3 percentage points.

Jonathan Langston, managing director, TRI Hospitality Consulting, said: "The strong volume achieved in the capital, continuing cost control and softer comparables in 2008 have combined to stem declines in profitability."

According to Visit London, the capital welcomes around 3.5 million business travellers per year, including conference and exhibition delegates. Business travellers not only boost volume, but also spend three times the amount of leisure travellers. Given the capital's role as a global financial centre, London benefits from over 50% of total business visitor spend in the country.

Achieved average room rates in London increased by around 13% compared to August. Average room rate levels are now 4.8% below the same period last year and 7.8% below levels achieved year-to-date (nine months to September), a further improvement on last month.

The provinces also enjoyed strong occupancy levels of 75.7% for September, 1.5 percentage points below levels achieved last year. Year-to-date figures (nine months to September) reveal that provincial hoteliers were able to further decrease the drop in volume to 3.0%.

Langston continued: "Strengthening occupancy levels in the provinces and strong volume in the capital are a sign of increased UK and Eurozone consumer confidence and a pick up in business demand after the summer holiday months."

Related Articles:

• 25 Feb 2010 - The bad weather impacted profits at UK hotels far more than London, says TRI
• 24 Feb 2010 - TRI Hospitality Consulting named hotel industry's preferred advisor of the year
• 04 Feb 2010 - Confidence amongst hoteliers suffer a slight setback, says TRI
• 28 Jan 2010 - London hotels enjoy strong double digit boost to profitability during December
• 05 Jan 2010 - Occupancy and average room rates soar at London hotels
• 26 Nov 2009 - The London hotel market records second highest occupancy performance in 2009
• 11 Nov 2009 - Confidence amongst UK hotel general managers at a high
• 03 Nov 2009 - 'Staycation' trend set to continue throughout 2010 giving tourism a boost
• 02 Nov 2009 - London hoteliers lead the way
• 30 Oct 2009 - The latest issue of London Hotel Development Monitor now available
• 01 Oct 2009 - European hotels experience a weak August
• 26 Aug 2009 - London Hotel occupancy exceeds 2008 levels
• 24 Aug 2009 - TRI partners with Visit London
• 18 Aug 2009 - UK hotel general managers remain positive
• 28 Jul 2009 - Occupancy levels hold up at London hotels
• 25 Jun 2009 - Recession has less impact on UK hotels
• 22 May 2009 - London occupancy stays above 80%
• 27 Apr 2009 - UK hotel managers are more optimistic
• 24 Apr 2009 - UK hotels experience heavy falls in profit
• 30 Mar 2009 - Mixed performance across key city hotel markets
• 25 Mar 2009 - Profit down by 17% at London hotels
• 03 Mar 2009 - Hotel's revenue and profit continues to fall
• 25 Feb 2009 - Hotel profits fall by almost one third
• 23 Feb 2009 - TRI Hospitality Consulting wins hotel report award
• 09 Feb 2009 - UK hotels face most challenging conditions in 17 years

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