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Interest rate rises hitting London weekend breaks?
UK hotels performed “solidly” in September after a poor summer, according to preliminary monthly figures released today by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services.
London hotels saw rates rise by 7.5%, providing a 6.8% increase in rooms yield from £112.20 to £119.87 year-on-year.
But occupancy levels dropped from 87.2% to 86.7% as numbers of domestic visitors to the capital declined.
PKF suggested that one reason could be that the effects of the interest rate rises over the last year are beginning to bite and people are thinking twice about spending money on a weekend away.
Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester all had a disappointing September. All three cities saw a decline in their rooms yield on the previous year – Leeds was down 2.6%; Liverpool 5.5%; and Manchester had the largest fall at 8.3%.
These drops were a result of a decrease in both occupancy and room rate. Overall, regional hotels did see growth in September, jumping 2.4% in rooms yield.
Cardiff hotels were boosted by the Rugby World Cup matches held at the Millennium Stadium during the month. Rooms yield increased by 27.3% from £48.33 to £61.51. This was a result of a 20.6% rise in the room rate and a 5.5% rise in room occupancy.
Robert Barnard, partner for Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF, said: “London hotels had a strong September although again the growth in rooms yield was largely down to the room rate. The slight downturn in occupancy could have been due to some business travellers changing their plans in the aftermath of the summer’s financial turmoil.
“The regions also had a small drop in occupancy and this is likely to be due to a mixture of hikes in the interest rate over the last year and the dreary UK summer that has encouraged more people abroad for some last minute sunshine.”
by Phil Davies
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