Capital is "one of the most resilient cities"
Hotel occupancy in the capital has seen a marginal decline compared to the rest of UK this year, according to figures released today (October 19) by business advisory firm Deloitte.
Hotels in the UK saw revenue per available room (revPAR) fall 10.9% in the first three quarters of 2009, to £60.
Occupancy also dropped by 4% to 70.5%, despite a 7.2% fall in the average rate of a room to £85.
London fared better than the rest of the UK, managing a decline in occupancy of only 0.2% to 80.4% between January and September, £10 off the average room rate and a drop in revPAR fell of 7.4% to £98.
Marvin Rust, hospitality managing partner at Deloitte, said: "To achieve over 80% occupancy during one of the most severe economic downturns in history is very impressive, and the capital is proving to be one of the most resilient cities across the globe.
"Leisure demand on the weekends has been particularly strong."
The strongest performing city in terms of revPAR, however, is Glasgow, down only 1.4%, with Edinburgh, Cardiff and Newcastle also holding up well.
Hotels at Gatwick and Heathrow represent some of the largest declines, with revPAR falling 22%.
Heathrow's passenger traffic dropped 2.6% year-to-August and hotel performance has been affected by the new room supply that entered into the market with the opening of Terminal 5 last year.
Passenger traffic at Gatwick fell 8.9% year-to-August, but during the month of August, the airport grew its domestic and European traffic which, if sustained, should have a positive knock on affect on hotel demand, said Deloitte.
The number of overseas visitors to the UK fell 8% during the first seven months of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics, but "a surge in domestic tourism is counter-balancing this decline," said Mr Rust.
"This has helped hotels to avoid the massive average room rate discounting that has taken place in other European countries."
www.deloitte.co.uk