The performance of the UK hotel sector accelerated in October, according to preliminary figures released today by business advisory and accountancy firm, BDO LLP.
Operators in London and the regions collectively recorded the highest rooms yield growth figures seen so far this year, in a further sign that hotels are contributing to the nascent economic recovery.
Rooms yield in the regions increased by 6.5% year-on-year to ?45.12, compared to ?42.36 in October 2012.? This was the result of a 1.7% rise in room rate from ?58.34 to ?59.32, combined with a 5.7% improvement in occupancy from 72.6% to 76.1%.
In the capital, rooms yield rose to ?115.21, an 8.5% year-on-year increase.? This was driven by a 7.6% improvement in room rate from ?122.36 to ?131.66, and a 0.7% rise in occupancy to 87.5%, compared with 86.7% a year ago.
Robert Barnard, partner at BDO LLP, commented: “In aggregate, this is the strongest set of results that we’ve seen so far this year, demonstrating that momentum is continuing to build in the sector.? It is encouraging to see such rapid, sustained and geographically balanced growth in the industry after the challenging trading conditions experienced during the recession.
“The data suggest that hotel operators may have turned a corner during the summer after a particularly sluggish start to the year, and are now making an important contribution to the UK’s economic recovery.
“If hotels are able to maintain this level of performance for the remainder of 2013, then we may see the sector report positive rooms yield growth for the year as a whole, which would have been almost unthinkable back in the spring.”