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The UK hotel industry benefited from a boost in demand in September as people headed off on staycations across the country to make the most of the Indian summer, according to the RSM Hotels Tracker.
The data, which is compiled and produced by Hotstats and analysed by RSM UK, shows occupancy was up from 79.4% (August) to 82.0% (September) in the UK and from 80.4% to 82.6% in the London market – a 3.6% and 5.2% uplift, respectively, when compared with last September.
Average daily rates (ADR) of occupied rooms in the UK also increased significantly from £146.60 (August) to £156.86 (September) and from £211.43 to £235.47 in London.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased from £116.42 (August) to £128.70 (September) in the UK and from £170.05 to £194.51 in London. These price increases also filtered through to the bottom line, with gross operating profits of UK hotels up from 35.7% to 40.5% in September and from 38.8% to 44.9% in London.
Chris Tate, head of hotels and accommodation at RSM UK, said: “While the unseasonal heatwave in September was bad news for some industries such as retail, the prolonged summer encouraged consumers to head off on UK staycations to enjoy the last of the sun, giving a welcome boost to the hotel sector ahead of the winter months.
“The jump in gross operating profits to near pre-pandemic levels suggests that while higher room rates have previously been eroded by rising costs, there are signs these costs are starting to ease, but there’s still a way to go.”
He added: “Consumer confidence appeared to be on the road to recovery in September, but after suffering a stark drop in October, hoteliers will need to mitigate the likely knock-on effect on demand. In addition, with warnings of further train strikes over the festive period, this could be detrimental to bookings.
“After a disappointing Christmas last year, hoteliers need some form of reassurance from government that this won’t happen again, otherwise it’s the hotel and leisure and hospitality industries that will have to pay the price.”
