LONDON— After a year of falling occupancies, room rates, and revenues, the worst is over for London’s hotels, according to PKF. “The recovery is likely to gather pace towards the end of the year. Although we expect to see a further fall in rooms yield as hotels win back occupancy at the expense of average rate, this drop will be only minor and will provide a platform for a solid comeback in 2003 and beyond,” said Melvin Gold, managing director/hotel consultancy services at PKF. Gold’s comments came as PKF published its United Kingdom Trends 2002 survey, which shows that occupancy in London fell by 7.6% to 76.6% during the last financial year and RevPAR fell by 12.4% to £85.23 (US$130.44). Outside London, hotels in England saw a second year of RevPAR growth, with a rise of 1.6% to £47.87 (US$73.27). Average room rate increased by 2.3% to £65.39 (US$100.08), while occupancy fell by 0.7% to 73.2%. Hotels in Scotland recorded a third consecutive year of RevPAR decline during the period. RevPAR fell to £42.80 (US$65.51) and occupancy dropped from 69.8% to 68.5%. In Wales hotels reported an occupancy increase of 9.4% to 76.3%, an average room rate rise of 5% to £58.57 (US$89.64), and a RevPAR increase of 14.9% to £44.71 (US$68.43). Although Gold was confident London would start to see a recovery in the latter part of this year he said the rest of the U.K. was likely to have a “rougher time” in 2002. He expects RevPAR outside of London to fall slightly by the end of the year, but to be won back in 2003 and then built on in 2004. SOURCE: caterer.com
