The London hotel industry saw occupancy dive more than 13% during August as the aftermath of July's terrorist attacks took its toll on the capital, according to figures released today by PKF (UK) LLP hotel consultancy services.
PKF's report for August shows that occupancy in London was 66.9% (down 13.2% on the same period last year) while average room rate crept up 3.6% to £98.13. Rooms yield dropped 10.1% to £65.67.
Outside London, a much better picture emerged, with regional hotels showing a 0.7% rise in occupancy to 73.9%, while average room rate rose 2.9% to £64.91, leading to a 3.7% rise in rooms yield to £47.95.
Robert Barnard, partner for hotel consultancy services at PKF, said: "London hoteliers have been badly hit by the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the capital in July. The August results are the first full set of figures to take into account the change in behaviour of travellers to the London since the attacks. Whilst there have been cancellations by trans-Atlantic visitors, it is the drop in European guests that has had the strongest impact on the city.
"Fear of travelling into and around London has knocked occupancy levels and clearly hoteliers did not think that discounting room rates was going to help under the circumstances. Whilst we are seeing a return to normality and expect next month's figures to reveal a stronger picture, it may take some time to build back the confidence to pre-July levels.
"Regional hotels showed steady progression with an almost 4% rise in rooms yield, proving that the problems faced by the London market has not had a noticeable impact on hotels in the rest of the UK.
Preliminary data for August 2005
Final data for July 2005
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