August disappointing month, says PKF
London hotels rates are still dropping, according to two major hotel consultancies.
PKF reported that rates dropped by 7% in August compared with the same month in 2008 from £109.77 to £102.07.
It reported that, year on year, room yield in the city had fallen by 9.2% from £91.96 to £83.53.
TRI Hospitality Consulting said in its HotStats figures that rates in the capital had fallen by 7.3% for the month.
TRI said that the August drop compared to a 13.1% fall in July.
It said that after the July strategy of volume over rates, London hoteliers were now taking a "more measured approach" to rates.
It added: "Despite a more bullish strategy in August, London hoteliers were able to reduce the performance gap in Total Revenue per Available Room to the lowest levels since March 2009, 9.9% below 2008 levels".
Both PKF and TRI reported a slight drop in occupancy levels in London hotels.
The former said there was a fall from 83.7% in August 2008 to 81.8% while TRI said there was a year on year fall of 2.5% to 81.9%.
In the UK regions, TRI said rates fell year on year by 8.3% to £64.51 but occupancy dipped only 0.6% to 71.8%. This was the smallest decline for the whole year.
PKF said: "In the regions, rooms yield was down 11% from £49.57 to £44.10. This was largely as a result of an 8% decrease in room rate from £66.19 in 2008 to £60.91 in 2009.
"Occupancy also dropped, by 3.3%, from 74.8% to 72.4%."
Robert Barnard, a PKF partner, said: "This year was always going to be a tough one for hoteliers and therefore these figures are not hugely surprising.
"It is heartening to see that occupancy rates are creeping back up in many of the cities - Edinburgh in particular had an astonishing month achieving 91.3% occupancy - and Liverpool managing a 7.6% increase was particularly impressive given the 2008 figures were already boosted as a result of the city's status as European Capital of Culture."
David Bailey, TRI's deputy managing director, said: "For once it is provincial hoteliers who are making the headlines and for all the right reasons.
"The UK's top tourism destinations have successfully attracted domestic holiday makers who have understandably been dissuaded from travelling abroad at this time by the high costs and unfavourable exchange rates."
www.trihc.com www.pfk.co.uk