UK hotels enjoy strongest January in five years

Consumer optimism has helped hoteliers beat the usual New Year slump in January, resulting in the strongest figures across London and the regions since 2010. 

This is according to preliminary figures released today by business advisory and accountancy firm BDO, which reported that regional hotels saw a 7.9% rise in average room rate to £55.81, while occupancy increased by 4.5% to 59.7%.

Rooms yield for hotels in the regions was up 12.7% to £33.30, on the same period in 2014.

Hotels in the capital also saw a strong growth in rooms yield, up 8% to £74.98. This was the result of high average room rate – £104.86, up 5% – on the back of strong demand, as occupancy was up 2.8% to 71.5%.

BDO said that the healthy increase in tourism was due to lower petrol costs, the supermarket price wars and wage growth, which all contributed to more money in consumer pockets.

Robert Barnard, partner at BDO, said: “The low inflation rate spells good news for hoteliers as consumers can spend more on non-essentials like travel and tourism. It has resulted in the strongest January since 2010.

“While it’s likely that low inflation and interest rates will continue to be the trend, certainly for the first part of 2015 at least, hoteliers should take this opportunity to make hay while the sun shines. After a record year of about 35 million visitors to the UK in 2014, the prospect for the future remains robust.”