Recession has less impact on UK hotels

25th June 2009, 9:09am

The economic downturn is now having less of an impact on UK hotels, according to the latest HotStats survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting.

For the first five months of this year occupancy at UK hotels was down 3.7 points but for May it was down 2.7 points.

RevPAR was down 10.9% in May and down 11.8% for the first five months. Most importantly, profit, as measured by income before fixed charges, was down 18.1% for the first five months but down significantly less at 12.6% for the month of May.

Despite challenging trading conditions, average room occupancy levels in London remained above 80%, achieving 81.3% in May 2009.

"Strong occupancy levels confirm the resilience of the London hotel market, giving it a strong position to regain rate once market conditions improve," said Jonathan Langston, managing director, TRI Hospitality Consulting.

London is performing significantly above levels achieved during the economic downturn of the1990s, when average annual room occupancy levels dropped by around 12 percentage points to as low as 63%.

Meanwhile in the first five months of 2009, the London hotel market achieved an average room occupancy of 75.9% at an average room rate of £106.69, generating a revenue per available room approximately £10 below last year.

Related Articles:

• 25 May 2010 - UK hotel managers are confident about 2010, says survey
• 25 Feb 2010 - The bad weather impacted profits at UK hotels far more than London, says TRI
• 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
• 02 Nov 2009 - London hoteliers lead the way
• 30 Oct 2009 - The latest issue of London Hotel Development Monitor now available
• 28 Oct 2009 - London hoteliers boost profits
• 01 Oct 2009 - European hotels experience a weak August
• 28 Sep 2009 - Holiday makers boost occupancy levels for UK hotels
• 26 Aug 2009 - London Hotel occupancy exceeds 2008 levels
• 18 Aug 2009 - UK hotel general managers remain positive
• 28 Jul 2009 - Occupancy levels hold up at London hotels
• 22 May 2009 - London occupancy stays above 80%
• 28 Apr 2009 - Lower hotel room rates keep occupancy high
• 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
• 28 Jan 2009 - Flat profit at London hotels
• 15 Dec 2008 - TRI nominated for 2009 Hotel Report Awards
• 27 Nov 2008 - UK hotel profits fall by 9%
• 24 Oct 2008 - London hotels hit by credit crisis
• 10 Jun 2008 - UK hotels continue to rise in room rates
• 04 Mar 2008 - London hotels achieve profit increase

Click here to submit a comment!

Have your say!

To comment on this article, simply enter your name and email and send us your views. Please note that your comment will appear publicly below this article once it has been processed. For enquiries please email info@eatoutmagazine.co.uk.