Party conferences help Birmingham hotels to achieve record occupancy rates
HOTEL occupancy rates in Birmingham reached an 82% average in September – the highest since records began in 2003 – according to the latest figures.
Data from travel research company STR Global and analysis from the Marketing Birmingham Regional Observatory has revealed that occupancy rates in September were 7% higher than the same month in 2013 and 16% higher than the previous month.
As well as occupancy, Birmingham’s average room rate in September increased to a three-year high of £66, a £10 rise from £56 in 2013.
Birmingham hosted two political conferences in September, which played a major role in the city’s hotels performing particularly well.
The Conservative Party Autumn Conference at the ICC (28th September – 1st October) saw an estimated 14,000 delegates attend from across the country, while the Green Party also held its autumn event at Conference Aston (5th – 8th September).
Other key September events in Birmingham included two international cricket fixtures between England and India at Edgbaston Stadium, Autumn Fair 2014 at the NEC and the National Housing Federation Annual Conference, which attracted around 1,000 delegates to the ICC.
Emma Gray, director of marketing services for Marketing Birmingham, which operates the city’s leisure and business tourism programmes Visit and Meet Birmingham, said: “These are extremely encouraging results for Birmingham’s hotel sector.
“The sheer number of high-profile events taking place in September has generated an unprecedented peak in hotel occupancy across the city.”
