The hotel industry of the United Kingdom reported positive results for July 2013 year-to-date regarding hotels’ demand. The data were released by STR Global showing nevertheless a decrease in the average daily rate over the same period of time.
In the comparison of the results for July 2012 and July 2013, the nationwide occupancy of hotels during the month improved by an impressive 6.4% to 82.3%. ADR on the other hand decreased by 6.2% to GBP83.40. The revenue obtained from each of the available room remained fairly constant at GBP68.61, suffering only a slight 0.1% fall.
Hotels in the areas outside London, referred to as Regional UK, had recorded occupancy of 80.7%. This was an increase by 5.6%. The ADR decreased by 0.3% to GBP62.44. Meanwhile, the RevPAR grew by 5.3% to GBP50.41. The situation within London was similar. The hotels experienced an increase to 87.7% in occupancy – a sharp rise of 8.9%. ADR decreased greatly when it is compared to Regional UK, with a 15.2% decrease to GBP143.13 being witnessed. Contrastingly, the RevPAR shot down to GBP125.55, a drop of 7.6%.
STR Global’s managing director, Elizabeth Winkle, attributed the decrease in the ADR of London to the Ramadan shift and lack of major events, giving an example of the Farnborough Airshow. She was optimistic, noting that despite the losses faced by the capital, markets such as Edinburg were strongly coming back, as were other markets from Scotland. Edinburg in particular has a July year-over-year growth in RevPAR of 26.5%.
As a whole, for 2013's first 7 months, UK has experienced a 3.7% rise in occupancy. It stands at 73.6%. In addition, RevPAR stood at GBP58.28, an increase of 2.5%. Meanwhile, ADR fell to GBP79.21, a decrease of 1.1%.
London's 7.0% demand rise offset its 4.5% supply increase. Within the provinces, demand has risen by up to 6.1% with a corresponding supply increasing by 2% and the ADR remaining flat.