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Hotels in ‘staycation’ destinations across the UK have welcomed a spike in trade and investor attention, according to Colliers International.
According to the group, changes in tourism in the wake of the pandemic have brought “new opportunities” to the UK hotels industry, with growing interest from a “diverse” range of prospective purchasers.
Despite lockdown “inevitably” impacting the hotel market, Colliers noted it has seen a recent increase in general enquiries, with an uplift of over 200% in formal viewings in July compared with the previous month.
Julian Troup, head of UK Hotels Agency at the global real estate advisor, said: “A significant spike in trade in hotels located in areas popular for ‘staycations’ has been observed by our teams throughout the UK, in most popular tourist destinations throughout the UK.
“All the signs are that this trend is set to continue, and that hotels in locations which benefit from ‘staycation’ holidays will attract a healthy level of interest in the months to come.”
He added: “These hotels offer buyers a great place to live, work and make profit. They should attract more funding support and, based on the impressive trading figures and forecasts we have seen, in most cases will provide buyers with a solid return on investment.”
Troup noted that three “distinct” types of would-be buyers have been in touch with the group, namely investors, developers and lifestylers.
While investors were attracted by the “strong fundamentals” of the ‘staycation’ market, developers were interested in the “opportunities offered by well-located hotels which could be changed to residential use”, and lifestylers were “seeking an escape route from the ‘rat race’”.
Following Colliers’ completion of a “number” of hotel sales during lockdown, the market had also been “heating up” before Covid-19, as overseas investors “moved in to take advantage of the weakness of sterling”.
Troup said: “At Colliers International, where we typically have over 200 UK hotels for sale at any one time, we had been transacting on between 80 and 100 hotels and hospitality businesses each year and our pipeline was solid on the back of a strong Q1.
“UK hotels have been proactive in responding to public anxiety about COVID-19 by providing demonstrably safe, clean accommodation featuring heightened cleaning protocols and standards.”
