No Olympic gold for region’s hotels

AUGUST saw a mixed picture for North West hotels with good performances on Chester and Blackpool contrasting with 2% falls in occupancy in Liverpool and Manchester.

PKF Hotel Consultancy Services, which produces the monthly figures, said it was clear that the Olympic effect, which boosted occupancy in the London and south east, had not materialised in this region.

Despite the falls in visitor numbers in the major cities, hotels managed to maintain prices and were therefore able to grow room yields.

Overall Chester was the best-performing location in the region. Occupancy levels rose 2.4% and room rates by 2.1%.  This resulted in  hoteliers reporting an average 4.6% improvement in room yield to £47.99 overall.

Compared with the same period last year, Blackpool’s hotels witnessed a 0.1% increase in occupancy. This, combined with a 2.9% increase in room rates, resulted in a 2.9% improvement in yield to £51.12.

In Manchester, despite the fall in visitor numbers, room rates were up 4.3% to £65.24, leading to a 2.2% increase in rooms yield to £45.73.

There was a similar trend in Liverpool, where prices were up 3.7% more for rooms, resulting in a 1.5% increase in rooms yield to £42.20, despite a 2.1% reduction in occupancy.
 
Mark Sykes, partner at PKF, commented: “Many hoteliers were dubious about the projected impact of the Olympics on regional visitor figures, and these results would certainly support the sceptics’ view as occupancy rates have dropped overall compared to last year.

“Against a backdrop as momentous as the Olympic Games, it is somewhat disappointing that the fantastic results reported in London haven’t extended to our region.

“However, it is great to see the increases in room rates and rooms yield across all areas of the North West. This demonstrates that hotels are able to manage revenues to off-set lower occupancy levels.”