London hotels have enjoyed a bumper start to the year with revenue per available room in the first three months jumping 13.5%, according to HotStats, the monthly industry survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting.
Provincial hoteliers saw a slightly lower but still healthy 4.9% rise in revpar and this meant that, for the entire HotStats sample of 544 hotels, revpar climbed by 7.9%.
"This is the clearest signal yet that the industry is now on a recovery path, ending the challenging trading environment of the last three years," said Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting.
The month of March was particularly strong, with revpar in London climbing 23.1%. Occupancy broke through the 80% barrier, reaching 80.5%, a massive hike on the 70.3% achieved in March last year.
In the provinces in March 2004 revpar climbed 7.7% compared to the same month a year earlier. This gave a rise of 13.0% in revpar for the entire UK for the month. “A double digit increase in revpar for March is just the tonic to enable the industry to begin motoring again. We expect a robust recovery,” said Langston.
Other indicators positive
The HotStats results for the hotel industry follow news that international tourism statistics for the UK in January and February were some of the best ever. Tourism authority VisitBritain said over 3.5 million visitors came to the UK in the first two months of the year, a rise of 10% on the same two months in 2003. VisitBritain is forecasting a 3.3% rise in visits throughout the whole of 2004 and a 3.4% rise in spending.
Other optimistic indicators include figures from BAA, the company that owns seven British airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. It said this month that passenger numbers were up 10.4% in March compared to the same month a year earlier.
For the year to April 1, traffic was up 4.4%, showing that travel volumes are definitely climbing again. This increase is a rise of six million people compared to the previous 12 months.
Numbers from the British Incoming Tour Operators Association also showed that arrivals to the UK are increasing. January saw a 1.3% rise and February a 2.2% rise. A confidence survey of BITOA members found that 36% expect inbound tourism to grow significantly in 2004.
“The encouraging figures from our HotStats survey are clearly supported by other indicators and this gives us increased confidence that the year ahead will see a continued rebound in trading,” said Langston.
For more information contact Jonathan Langston on 020 7486 5191 or email jonathan.langston@trihc.com.
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