But occupancy on rise
Hotel room yields in London have dropped 7% in the first six months of 2009 compared with last year, according to new figures today (July 27) from PKF Hotel Consultancy Services.
But the analysts said that occupancy in the capital's hotels rose slightly last month.
They added there were signs the industry might have a "slightly better" second half of 2009.
PKF said the drop in yields between January and June was a combination of a fall of 0.8% in occupancy and of 6.6% in room rates.
These fell from £126.67 last year to £118.72 this year.
But PKF said that occupancy had picked up slightly in June showing a 1.4% rise from 84.2% to 85.5%.
UK regional hotels were still having a difficult time with a drop of 15.8% in room yield from £47.80 to £41.27.
Occupancy was down 6.9% and room rate 7.3%.
In June, PKF said regional hotels suffered an 8% drop in room rate from £71.98 £66.26, occupancy down 4.2% and rooms yield was down 13.4% from £54.03 to £47.64.
PKF said that Edinburgh was the only city to achieve a rise in occupancy in the six months although Manchester and Cardiff saw their occupancy rates rise in June.
Robert Barnard, a PKF partner, said: "Hoteliers across the UK have certainly had a difficult year so far, but there are some signs to suggest that the industry will have a slightly better second half.
"The figures for June show that more cities were able to achieve either an increase, or smaller decrease, in occupancy than experienced hitherto, which is a positive sign.
"Most hoteliers are struggling to maintain historical room rates, however, and this is ultimately depressing rooms yield for the time being."
www.pkf.com