Buoyant April for UK hoteliers | PKF Reports
UK hoteliers’ recorded robust levels of growth in April with both occupancy and room rate consistently high across the country, according to preliminary monthly figures released today by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services. In contrast to March, where the early Easter break meant a decline in business travellers compared to 2007, it was the 2007 Easter break which meant the figures for April 2008 were so buoyant.
In London, both room rate and occupancy saw significant increases. Room rate jumped from £123.55 last year to £135.94 this year – an overall rise of 10.0% – while occupancy increased 4.1% on April 2007. Overall this meant rooms yield in the capital was up by a substantial 14.6% – from £97.67 last year to £111.91 this year.
The regions had an equally robust month also recording rises in both room rate and occupancy. Occupancy was up 8.1% from 69.1% to 74.7% while room rate increased by 4.8%. Rooms yield therefore saw a healthy 13.2% increase on the 2007 figures.
Many of the cities in the regions saw substantial increases in April compared to 2007. This can be explained by the return of commercial visitors who, last year, would not have been travelling on business to the same extent because of the Easter break.
Leeds and Birmingham recorded two of the largest increases in rooms yield, jumping 28.4% and 27.6% respectively. This was a combination of solid room rate rises and robust occupancy increases – for Leeds occupancy rose by 19.5% and for Birmingham, 17.0%.
Liverpool had a solid 17.0% increase in occupancy on April 2007 which can be explained in part by the city’s status as European Capital of Culture for 2008. Overall the city saw a 19.1% increase in rooms yield.
“Some of this year’s Easter school holidays did spill over into April however and therefore the strength of the figures this month is heartening.
“Nonetheless, it is hard to make a true assessment of how the UK hotel market has fared over the last two months because straight year on year comparisons cannot be made. We therefore look to May for the first true indicator of how 2008 is panning out for UK hoteliers thus far.”
Preliminary data for April 2008
Final data for March 2008
- Room occupancy: the ratio of total occupied rooms to total available rooms
- Average achieved room rate (AARR): rooms revenue divided by the total number of guest rooms occupied during the year.
- Rooms yield: room occupancy multiplied by the average achieved room rate (also known as RevPar).
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- PKF has been providing hotel consultancy services since the early 1970s and, in that time, has undertaken thousands of assignments throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa and further a field. Services include: market evaluation and financial feasibility studies; operational and profit improvement reviews; asset management; business valuations; international property services; corporate strategy and planning; litigation support. PKF’s web site features regular articles from the firm’s hotel consultancy services experts on industry topics – the address is
. - PKF’s hotel trends surveys feature a broad range of hotels across the country although mainly in the 3 – 4 star categories and featuring rather more chain operated hotels than those operated independently. While there are a fair number of hotels in country and rural areas, there is a predominance of hotels in towns and cities. In London, supply featured is mainly in the 3 –5 star categories.