STR: London hotels set to continue strong year with a series of summer events

LONDON -- Following a record-breaking Q1, and in anticipation of several summer events that are likely to boost hotel demand, STR and Tourism Economics have lifted their 2017 market forecast for London, England.

STR analysts note that hotel performance in the U.K. capital could reach record actual levels between late June and mid-July. On Wednesday, 28 June, Adele will kick off a four-night concert series at Wembley Stadium. The day following the final show, Wimbledon 2017 begins, positioning the market for a 19-day period that is expected to bring both high occupancy levels and average daily rate (ADR).

Adele Wembley Concerts (28 June – 2 July)
This hometown series will conclude the Adele Live 2017 tour, which has already broughtsignificant hotel business for many international markets. All four nights are sold out, and STR analysts project that rates for hotels within reasonable access to Wembley Stadium should spike.

London hotel rates have reached significantly high levels when other major acts have performed at Wembley:

• Beyoncé (2 July 2016): GBP152 (6.2% higher than the 2016 yearly average)
• Coldplay (15 June 2016): GBP170 (18.5% higher than the 2016 yearly average)
• Ed Sheeran (11 July 2015): GBP153 (6.4% higher than the 2016 yearly average)
• AC/DC (4 July 2015): GBP155 (8.4% higher than the yearly 2015 average)

Wimbledon 2017 (3 July – 17 July)
During the two-week tennis championship tournament, London's hotel rates are routinely much higher than the market's June through August average. For Wimbledon 2016 (27 June to 10 July), London's ADR was GBP159. This was 6.4% higher than London's three-month summer average in 2016 (GBP149).

"London hotels had an exceptional start to the year," said Michele Pasqui, STR forecast analyst. "The results we've seen thus far have in part been a rebound from a weak first half 2016, but more important has been the increased international tourism to the U.K. due to the pound devaluation. We expect this strong performance to continue through the remainder of 2017, and are projecting a 6% increase in demand for the year, which would be the market's highest rate of growth since 2013. Along with strong demand, inflation is also picking up this year, and we expect London's ADR to increase by around 5% for the full year, which should result in one of the market's strongest performances for the last five years."

In addition to the overlapping concert dates and tournament, STR analysts expect the market to welcome an influx of tourists from the Middle East after the Eid holiday ends (26 June).

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