London tops European cities for hotel performance in 2009

While half of hotels in Europe’s cities saw more than a 30 per cent fall in Gross Operating Profit per Available Room (GOPPAR), London hotels bucked the trend with a significant growth.​

According to the latest HotStats survey from TRI Hospitality Consulting, London hoteliers saw a 23 per cent increase in GOPPAR at the end of 2009, minimising its annual decline in profitability to just 3.4 per cent on 2008.

Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI, said the weak pound had helped hoteliers moderate their decline in profitability.

“A growth in room occupancy during the downturn goes against all the odds and London’s performance is particularly impressive compared to the drop of almost 12 percentage points in the city during the last recession in 1990,” he said. “London hoteliers are to be applauded for their bullish management throughout the year.”

In 2009, London achieved the highest RevPAR in TRI’s sample of European cities at €123.67, as well as the highest GOPPAR at €86.43, 44 per cent higher than the next most profitable city, Amsterdam.

Overall room rate for the year fell by 6 per cent to €147.41, while occupancy grew by 1.7 per cent to 83.9 per cent.