London hoteliers pushed rates up by 6.4% over the festive period, according to the preliminary December figures released by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services.
London hotels raised rates from £120.30 in 2006 to £128.00 in 2007, while occupancy rose very slightly to 73.6% – up 0.1% on last year’s 73.5%. This helped London hotels enjoy a 6.6% increase in rooms yield.
In the regions, overall growth was about half that rate, with rooms yield increasing by 3.4% from £42.61 last year to £44.05 this year.
Birmingham had a very strong December with a hike in rooms yield of 7.2% from £35.92 to £38.50. This was a culmination of a rise in occupancy from 59.3% to 61.3% and a 3.9% rise in room rate from £60.48 to £62.85.
PKF said the rises were most likely down to festive getaways filling up the city’s hotels in order for holiday makers to make the most of the new routes started in December by easyJet and Ryanair.
Manchester also had a successful month due to the UEFA Champions match at Old Trafford between Manchester United and AC Roma. Rooms yield in the city was up 7.0% from £56.39 to £60.32.
Robert Barnard, partner for Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF, said: “Cardiff did not have such a good month and the opening of the new Wembley stadium earlier in the year is likely to be the biggest factor affecting the city’s numbers.
“However, overall for the year Cardiff, and the regions as a whole, have recorded healthy growth – Cardiff achieved a 3.4% rise in rooms yield for the whole of 2007, while the regions as whole achieved a 3.7% rise in rooms yield.“
