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Hotel sector weathering economic downturn
UK hoteliers’ recorded growth in April, with both occupancy and room rate consistently high across the country.
According to PKF Hotel Consultancy Services, room rates in London jumped 10 per cent from £123.55 last year to £135.94 this year, while occupancy increased 4.1 per cent on April 2007.
The regions had an equally robust month, with occupancy up 8.1 per cent from 69.1 per cent to 74.7 per cent, while room rate increased by 4.8 per cent.
The figure are a relief for the hotel industry, which experienced falls in occupancy during March 2008.
However, Robert Barnard, spokesperson for PKF, said it was too early to predict the true trends for 2008.
“The robust figures for April are not a surprise,” he said. “With the Easter holiday falling in March this year, it was inevitable that the figures would be slower last month with the exact contrast this month.
“It is hard to make a true assessment of how the UK hotel market has fared over the last two months because straight year on year comparisons cannot be made. We therefore look to May for the first true indicator of how 2008 is panning out for UK hoteliers thus far.”