TRI finds growing confidence
Managers of UK chain hotels are becoming more positive about business levels, according to a new survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting.
Its latest Confidence Monitor for Q2 2009 found that 39% of respondents were optimistic or very optimistic.
This compares with 29% who were upbeat in the poll for Q1 and 16% in the last three months of 2008.
The survey also found that managers regarded marketing as important to a hotel's performance with nearly 70% saying they had either increased or maintained their budget compared with 2008 levels.
But balancing this, nearly 75% of the 118 managers who responded said that they had cut staff numbers in the first three months of the year.
But a similar figure said they now planned to maintain this level of staffing.
About 30% of the managers said they hoped to maintain or grow their occupancy levels and to increase average room rate during the year.
But only 20% expect to maintain or increase revPAR (revenue per available room).
David Bailey, TRI's deputy managing director, said: "These are tentative signs that confidence levels are rising as operators adapt and get to grips with the recession and also find themselves three months nearer to recovery.
"Although the UK hotel industry has now dropped some way from its trading peak in 2007 and most of 2008, it would be wrong to conclude that all operators are suffering to the same extent.
Recessionary conditions create winners and losers, and there is a small but significant proportion of operators who still expect to achieve occupancy and revenue growth in the current climate."
www.tri.com