Deloitte more optimistic for next year
The outlook for UK hotels for 2010 is looking brighter, Deloitte said today (September 28).
In its quarterly Hotel Market Outlook, the consultants said a "more optimistic picture" was emerging for next year.
But Deloitte warned that before any improvement, the rest of 2009 would be "difficult."
It said revPAR (revenue per available room) would fall in the last six months of 2009 while occupancy would be marginally down by between 0.3% and 0.6%, compared with 2008 levels.
Deloitte said the "main culprit" for the drop in revPAR was the fall is average room rates.
It said it expected revPAR to fall by 8.9% over the whole of the year.
But it added: "Looking further ahead to 2010, although the capital will continue to suffer - with hoteliers expected to report further revPAR declines until Q4 2010 - by year-end, things will be looking brighter with revPAR down for the full year by just 0.6%."
Deloitte said the picture for UK regional hotels was more optimistic than for London.
While they would also "suffer" for the rest of the year with revPAR down 9.9%, Deloitte said they would start to recover by the first quarter of 2010, earlier than previously expected.
It added: "Each quarter, thereafter, is expected to report growth in excess of 5%, with year-end 2010 revPAR growth of 5.1%."
Marvin Rust, Deloitte's hospitality managing partner, said: "The revised forecasts show that for hotels in London and across the UK, the worst falls in revPAR are probably behind us now.
"However, both sectors still face further falls in revenue before recovery takes place."
He said if the UK pound remained weak against other currencies, like the dollar and Euro, the recovery could come before the fourth quarter.
www.deloitte.co.uk