Hotels across the UK continued to perform solidly in the September sunshine, research revealed today.

In London, while occupancy did drop slightly from last year’s 87.2% to 86.7%, there was still a strong 6.8% increase in revenue per available room (revpar) from £112.20 to £119.87, according to preliminary monthly figures from  PKF Hotel Consultancy Services.

This was driven largely by the increase in room rate where there was a 7.5% hike. Domestic visitors to the capital decreased again on the previous year.

In the regions, Cardiff hotels were boosted by the Rugby World Cup matches held at the Millennium Stadium during September.

Revpar increased a massive 27.3% from £48.33 to £61.51. This was a result of a 20.6% rise in the room rate and a 5.5% rise in room occupancy.

However, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester all experienced a disappointing September.

All three cities saw a decline in their revpar on the previous year – Leeds was down 2.6%; Liverpool 5.5%; and Manchester had the largest fall at 8.3%. These drops were a result of a decrease in both occupancy and room rate.

Nevertheless overall, regional hotels did see growth in September, jumping 2.4% in revpar.

Robert Barnard, partner for hotel consultancy services at PKF, said: "London hotels had a strong September although again the growth in rooms yield [revpar] was largely down to the room rate.

“The slight downturn in occupancy could have been due to some business travellers changing their plans in the aftermath of the summer's financial turmoil.

"The regions also had a small drop in occupancy and this is likely to be due to a mixture of hikes in the interest rate over the last year and the dreary UK summer that has encouraged more people abroad for some last minute sunshine."

PKF monthly hotel performance update >>

July a good month for hotels despite weather >>

Coldest August in years fails to freeze UK hotel growth >>

Industry data: PKF Hotel Britain 2007 >>

By Daniel Thomas

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