Luxury hotel group Mandarin Oriental has revealed falling occupancy levels and warned of delays to its opening programme due to the credit crunch.

With the slowdown in the global economy taking hold, Mandarin Oriental said hotel occupancy between the 1 July and 12 November had fallen behind that of the same period a year ago.

The company added that in-part some of these falls had been offset by higher room rates, although it expects a generally lower level of demand for rooms for the rest of the year.

The group, which opened a new hotel in Boston last month to take its total to 22 in operation and 18 in development, said at least some of its new sites would likely be delayed due to the global downturn.

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By Chris Druce

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