London occupancy levels impressive despite downturn
London hotels’ occupancy levels remained ‘impressive’ during the first three quarters of 2009, despite a fall in the number of overseas visitors to the UK.
New figures released by business advisory firm Deloitte, show that revPAR in London hotels fell 7.4 per cent to £98, as room rates fell by an average of £10.
And while occupancy levels for the capital declined by 0.2 per cent to 80.4 per cent for the period, Marvin Rust, hospitality managing partner at Deloitte said to achieve over 80 per cent occupancy during an economic downturn was ‘impressive’.
“The capital is proving to be one of the most resilient cities across the globe,” he said. “Leisure demand on the weekends has been particularly strong in London resulting in hotels achieving stronger results during several weekends this year compared to last.”
Rust added that the figure was even more impressive considering the number of overseas visitors to the UK was down by eight per cent for the first seven months of the year.
“A surge in domestic tourism is counter-balancing this decline,” he said. “So far this year, overseas departures by UK residents have decreased 16 per cent as the appeal to holiday in the UK heightens. This has helped hotels to avoid the massive average room rate discounting that has taken place in other European countries.”
Overall, UK hotels saw a decline in revPAR of 10.9 per cent to £60, as room rates and occupancy fell 7.2 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Reading fared the worst of the country’s cities, with revPAR falling 24.9 per cent to £41, while Glasgow continued to see the best results, with revPAR dropping by just 1.4 per cent.
