The UK hotel market enjoyed a good February, PKF Hotel Consultancy Services said.
It said that while room rates rose, occupancy also fared well.
But it warned that growth in 2008 was likely to be slower than it was in 2007.
In London, PKF said room rates during the month rose by 5.8% from 2007 from £123.42 to £130.61 while occupancy stayed at 77.7%.
Room yield rose form£95.92 in February 2007 to £101.45 this February.
PKF reported "consistent growth" in the UK regions with room yield rising 2.3% from £49.50 to £50.66 despite a drop in occupancy of 0.5%.
Liverpool, the current European city of culture, fared best with a 15.2% rise in room yields from £50.15 in 2007 to £57.79 in 2008.
PKF said this was due to a 10.2% increase in room rate and a 4.5% increase in occupancy.
Robert Barnard, partner for Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF, said: "February was another steady month for UK hotels and so far, it seems there is no discouragement for UK hoteliers despite the turmoil in the financial markets since the credit crunch.
"It's true that 2008 is likely to be slower than 2007, but this is due not just to the global economic conditions, but also the fact that UK hotels have experienced a healthy period of growth over the last couple of years which is now starting to stabilise."
* The Great Hotels Organisation (GHO) predicted that the current Middle East hotel market will burst in 2010. It said that the Middle East was now the third fastest growing hotel market in the world with occupancy rising by 5% to 71.6%. But the GHO said the region was over reliant on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) guests. With an increasing number of rooms on the market, there would be intense competition for these guests. The GHO said Middle East hotel managers had to start planning to attract more overseas guests to avoid a fall in their revenues.
Amex to buy GE's card business
American Express is to buy GE Money's corporate payment services.
The $1.1bn cash deal includes GE's commercial card and corporate purchasing unit.
The unit was launched by GE in 1992 to provide purchasing cards for its own employees.
It has since expanded to include more than 300 "large corporate clients."
Amex said GE's card holders would now become clients of American Express.
Anré Williams, president of American Express's global commercial card and services said: "Expanding our corporate purchasing and expense management services is a top priority for American Express.
“Acquiring Corporate Payment Services adds to our purchasing card capabilities and gives us the opportunity to accelerate our growth."