Increased midweek demand from business travellers helped to push average hotel rates in London above pre-Covid levels in October.
The UK capital’s average daily rate (ADR) was £199.95 last month, which compares to an ADR of £162.07 in October 2019, according to the latest data from industry analyst STR.
London’s hotels also saw revPAR (revenue per available room) surpass pre-Covid levels last month to reach an average of £167.60 - an increase from £141.97 in October 2019. This was achieved despite London’s overall hotel occupancy rate of 83.8 per cent still being four percentage points lower than three years ago.
“When looking at daily data, the market continued to show high occupancy levels on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, pointing to business demand, with the highest daily occupancy for the month - 93 per cent - recorded on Wednesday, 12 October,” said STR in an update.
STR also added that both occupancy and revPAR for London’s hotels in October “came in higher” than during September.
London’s hotel sector has enjoyed a strong recovery in 2022, which was particularly fuelled by pent-up leisure demand during the summer.
Earlier this month, business consultancy PwC forecast that average hotel rates in London could reach £212.60 in 2023, although the sector faces “economic headwinds”, including double-digit inflation, staffing shortages, rising energy bills and a potential recession in the UK.