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Growing attendance at the UK’s biggest real estate conference, UKREiiF, saw RevPAR in Leeds and the surrounding areas grow by an average of over 30% from 20 May to 22 May, according to data from CoStar.
Occupancies averaged approximately 95%, with Tuesday night being the busiest and most expensive, as ADR reached £290.
Given the start of the conference on Tuesday morning, hotels benefitted from demand arriving the night before, on Monday, 19 May, with attendees leaving on the last day of the conference, therefore adversely affecting Thursday night performance.
Demand exceeded room supply quite significantly in the Leeds hotel market. There are approximately 7,200 rooms in the city centre and the greater Leeds area. This amounts to less than half of the attendee count, which was around 16,000.
Supply constraints displace conference attendees elsewhere, benefitting neighbouring markets. The city of York and the West Yorkshire hotel market, which includes Bradford and Wakefield, witnessed notable improvements in RevPAR over the conference period.
Hotels in the West Yorkshire market, which excludes Leeds, experienced the biggest revenue uplifts, with RevPAR growth peaking at 31% on Tuesday night.
Like the trends in Leeds hotel performance, Tuesday night was strongest across the two geographies, with occupancies reaching around 96%.
Performance outside of event periods points to challenges in hotel performance. RevPAR across the markets analysed shows year-over-year revenue losses throughout the rest of the week, with softer demand and additional supply adversely impacting metrics.
Leeds has witnessed the biggest increase in inventory with the opening of the Hyatt property, following years of limited supply growth, which has negatively impacted metrics in recent months.
