UK hotels enjoyed a profitable month during May, but the strong performance has still not made up for the drop in takings suffered last year, new figures have revealed.
Research released by accountancy firm PKF showed that British hoteliers saw occupancy rose four per cent to 73 per cent last month, while average room prices increased by eight per cent to £47.37.
London hotels fared particularly well, benefiting from the surge in tourist numbers. Occupancy in the capital rose by 12 per cent to 76 pert cent, while room rate upped by 9.4 per cent to £102.81.
However, PKF said that the upturn doesn’t make up for the damaging dip in profits suffered last year, at the height of the Iraq war.
With tourists finally willing to travel again after the Gulf conflict and the outbreak of SARS, it is hoped that small businesses that rely on tourism, such as hotels and bed and breakfasts, will soon start to recover.
Small hotels have endured a difficult past three years since the terrorist attacks on the USA and the foot and mouth epidemic in 2001 deterred many tourists from visiting the UK.
Robert Barnard, of PKF, said that the strong performance is encouraging for hoteliers who will be gearing up for the summer season.
“May’s bank holidays do not seem to have pulled down the figures which is good news and gives hoteliers a good platform on which to build during June.
“However, these positive figures do not tell the full story with London only just catching up to 2002 levels in occupancy and yet to return to 2002’s performance for both room rate and rooms yield,” he said.
