Poor Performance in October for UK Hoteliers
NOVEMBER 27, 2008. Hotels across the UK mostly experienced a slow October in terms of both occupancy and rooms yield, according to preliminary monthly figures released today by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services. Room rate increased in some cities and both Liverpool and Leeds bucked the downward trend.
In the capital, room rate rose 0.1% on last year to lb147.45, but the slowdown in business travel meant occupancy saw a 3.2% decline from 86.5% to 83.8%. Overall, this meant rooms yield was down 3.1% from lb127.58 last year to lb123.61 this year.
In the regions, occupancy was down 5.8% on 2007 from 77.2% to 72.7%. Room rate also fell 1.5% to lb76.19 which meant rooms yield was therefore down 7.6% on 2007, from lb59.70 to lb55.42.
On a positive note, Liverpool still managed to make impressive gains due to its status for the year as European Capital of Culture. Room rate was up 1.2% from lb81.98 to lb82.93 while occupancy managed a 3.9% increase to 83.9% for the city. Overall, rooms yield jumped 5.1% from lb66.26 last year to lb69.61 this year.
Leeds was another northern city to experience some growth as rooms yield was up 0.6% on last year from lb59.00 to lb59.36.
On the flip side, Cardiff experienced more falls with a 9.4% drop in occupancy and a 16.8% decrease in room rate. As in September, the falls can be explained in part due by the Rugby World Cup matches which Cardiff played host to in 2007, boosting the city's hotels significantly.
Robert Barnard, partner for Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF, commented, 'The continued global economic woes mean that the lack of growth experienced by many hoteliers in October, were to be expected.
'It is important to note that the falls overall were fairly moderate and the industry, while feeling the effects, is still holding its own. Occupancy in the capital is still at 83.8%, while in the UK as a whole, the hotels in our survey are at 72.7% of their capacity.'
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