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Holiday makers boosted Aug provincial occupancy levels in UK cha
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Provinces buoyed by ‘Staycations’
Holiday makers boosted occupancy levels for provincial UK chain hotels in August 2009, according to the latest HotStats survey by industry experts TRI Hospitality Consulting. Although occupancy levels were at similar levels to August 2008, provincial hoteliers continued to compete aggressively on price, resulting in an 8.3% year on year drop in achieved average room rate to £64.51. In contrast, the decline in average occupancy levels was only 0.6 percentage points, to 71.8%, representing the smallest margin of decline since the beginning of the year. “For once it is provincial hoteliers who are making the headlines and for all the right reasons. The UK’s top tourism destinations have successfully attracted domestic holiday makers who have understandably been dissuaded from travelling abroad at this time by the high costs and unfavourable exchange rates,” said David Bailey, deputy managing director, TRI Hospitality Consulting. Despite major commercial-led city centres such as Newcastle and Liverpool continuing to experience declines in occupancy levels, at 2.8 percentage points and 3.3 percentage points respectively, popular destinations for tourism such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Brighton enjoyed an increase in room occupancy levels in August 2009, compared to 2008. The largest margins of growth in occupancy levels were in York, at approximately 12 percentage points (with attractions in Yorkshire reporting an increase in revenue of 17%), and Blackpool, at more than 9 percentage points. As a result of the movement in average occupancy and room rate levels, the differential between the profitability of UK provincial hotels in 2009 on 2008 continued to decrease, with IBFC per available room only 12.9% lower than in August 2008. This is much more palatable than recent monthly year-on-year declines of as much as 30%. For full information and stats click on the link below.
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