2006 was a great year for the UK hotel industry with double–digit growth in revenue per available room (revPAR) in the capital and a healthy increase across the regions. Latest results from the…
2006 was a great year for the UK hotel industry with double–digit growth in revenue per available room (revPAR) in the capital and a healthy increase across the regions. Latest results from the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte show that during 2006 revPAR in London increased by 16.8%. Although the performance of the regional UK market was more moderate at 4.4% – this still marks the third year of consecutive growth.
London’s 16.8% growth in revPAR was a major improvement on its 2005 performance when the bombings constrained growth to just 2.0%. RevPAR has increased from £82 to £96, to reach its highest level since 2000.
Outside of London, Aberdeen is the fastest growing hotel market, enjoying impressive growth of 15.1% thanks to strong weekday business demand from the North Sea oil industry. Belfast follows Aberdeen with growth of 13.9%. However, the revPAR of both cities is still substantially lower than Edinburgh which, at £67, commands the highest rates outside London.
Marvin Rust, Hospitality Managing Partner says: “2006 has been a great year for the London hotel market after the challenges of 2005, buoyed by the return of Farnborough and the Motor Show. The capital appears to have learnt valuable lessons from the past and is also reaping the rewards of more sophisticated revenue management. Looking to next year, when the capital will host the Tour de France Grand Depart, we expect London’s good fortunes to continue driven by improvements in average room rates.”
“The increasing emphasis on the hotel brand and the continuous development of hotel products will be a key focus for the UK hotel industry in 2007. As increased competition means most gateway cities are reaching saturation point, brand, long held as the most important value driver in consumer business, is receiving the industry’s full attention. The changes in customer lifestyle, demanding experiential stay, will mean that brand choice, as opposed to location choice will lead the way in the future.”
“In the constant battle to differentiate themselves from the competition, I expect hotel groups to continue to seek out major fashion houses to help them build their hotel brands leading to further strengthening of the boutique hotel market in 2007.”
Other results include:
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
