HotStats UK Chain Hotels Market Review – December 2013

In 2013, hoteliers in the North West experienced a 6.1% rise in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to £51.63 driven by a combined surge in average room rate (ARR) and occupancy of 3.7% and 1.6 percentage points respectively. The corporate segment usurped leisure as the biggest market in this region accounting for 28.8% of the business mix against a leisure-driven proportion of 27.5%. With total revenue per available room (TRevPAR) growing by 3.8% to £98.49 and payroll remaining stable, GOPPAR increased by 5.0% despite an uplift in overheads per available room.

In December, hotels recorded positive results across all key performance indicators with TRevPAR and GOPPAR figures contributing to enhance the overall performance.

Birmingham behind the pace

In line with the West Midlands region results, Birmingham saw increases in RevPAR and TRevPAR by 2.3% and 1.1% respectively, but hotels were not able to convert these gains into profits, recording a 1.6% drop in GOPPAR during 2013, according to HotStats.

The rise in RevPAR performance was due to a 1.6 percentage point increase in occupancy offsetting a minor decline in ARR. Mixed results were recorded in other departments leading to a 1.1% increase in TRevPAR. Efficient operating cost control improved departmental operating profit per available room (DOPPAR) by 1.4% to 54.49. However, overheads per available room increased significantly by 5.7%, led most notably by 7.1% and 6.9% uplifts in utilities and administration and general costs. With payroll going up by 0.4%, GOPPAR declined by 1.6% to £31.30.

In the month of December, despite a RevPAR surge of 5.1% GOPPAR went down by a staggering 21.4% due to overheads per available room and payroll increasing by 37.9% and 2.0% respectively.

Nottingham nudges forward

In 2013, Nottingham hoteliers managed to increase occupancy by 4.9 percentage points to 68.7% at the expense of the ARR, which declined by 1.0%. As a result RevPAR grew 6.6% to £37.46. With growth in food sales (5.4%), beverage revenue (4.4%) and meeting room hire (2.5%), TRevPAR rose by 5.9% to £69.67 which combined with cost reductions to deliver a 7.8% increase in DOPPAR. Payroll decreased by 2.0% and despite an unavoidable rise in overheads per available room common to most UK markets, GOPPAR grew by an impressive 11.4%.

In December, RevPAR significantly increased by 10.0% but GOPPAR declined by 8.5% demonstrating once again the importance of looking beyond rooms key performance indicators when assessing hotel performance.