Hoteliers see 2012 as turning point for bookings

According to the latest HotStats Hotel Confidence Monitor of 521 hotel general managers from across Britain, 87 per cent of London hoteliers and 80.8 per cent of those from the Provinces see the use of mobile devices, online travel agents and third-party bookers as the most common means of booking hotels next year.

Mark Dickens, managing director of HotStats, said: “Whilst the increase in the number of bookings through web-based channels will impact costs in the rooms department, due to sources charging commission levels of up to 30 per cent per booking, the ease of use for customers, presence and geographical spread which is achieved as well as access to previously un-penetrable markets means that the strength of these new channels cannot be ignored.”

Pessimistic response​

With hotels facing high VAT​, low consumer confidence and on-going financial turmoil, 47.6 per cent of hoteliers are less optimistic compared to Q3 2011 - this represents the most pessimistic response of the last nine surveys conducted by HotStats with 38 per cent of respondents either ‘pessimistic’ or ‘very pessimistic’ about their hotel performance over the next three months.

Forty-one-point-five per cent of London general managers are expecting an increase in Q4 from Q3 2011 which is anticipated to result in further RevPAR growth. In contrast, just over half of Provincial hoteliers (51.7 per cent) forsee no change in RevPAR performance.

With a bumper 2012, packed with iconic, once-in-a-lifetime events including the London 2012 Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, it is somewhat surprising that 92.5 per cent of London hoteliers expect to only maintain or decrease the staffing levels during the next three months, compared to 92.7 per cent in the Provinces.