Good April growth for UK hotels

In the regions, occupancy grew by 1.2 per cent compared to April 2013, reaching 74 per cent. Hotels saw a 9.1 per cent increase in revenue per available room (revPAR) to £41.36, while the average room rate rose to £55.91, up 7.9 per cent from last year, according to figures released today by BDO.

Hotels in London also saw a hike in revPAR to £95.58, up 8.2 per cent on last year. The average room rate increased by 7.4 per cent to £114.93 and at 83.2 per cent occupancy was 0.7 per cent higher than in April last year.

Robert Barnard, partner at BDO, commented: “Confidence in the UK hotels sector is increasing as month-on-month data shows a steady growth trend. The overall outlook for 2014 appears to be promising, however there might be some bumpy months ahead as the recent dips in economic growth in some EU countries demonstrate that there is still some uncertainty.

“While the corporate market is usually down during the Easter period, the leisure market has bounced back as the nation made the most of the four day break. The good weather will be behind the increase in average room rate in the regions, while increased visitation and poor performance in 2013 will have driven the increase in the capital.”

According to figures from VisitEngland, 3.4m people planned a ‘staycation’ over the Easter break.