LONDON'S HOTELS are emerging from the recession far more quickly than their regional counterparts, new figures from Deloitte indicate.
In the first half of this year, the hospitality analysts say, the capital's hotels saw occupancies up 2.1 per cent to 78.9 per cent, average room rates 7 per cent higher at £129, and revenues per available room (revPAR) up 9.3 per cent to £102. Outside London, occupancy levels rose for the second quarter in succession, after seven consecutive months of decline. However, the 4.2 per cent increase still only achieved an average occupancy of 65.8 per cent.
Regional room rates fell - by 2.3 per cent to £66, £2 lower than in the first six months of last year - and revPAR inched up 1.7 per cent to £43, less than half the London figure.
Deloitte's hospitality managing partner Marvin Rust said: "It is still early days in the recovery cycle and with the regions more susceptible to national influences than the London market, the effects of fiscal tightening and government spending cuts remain hard to predict."