Studies show UK hotel development faring well despite recession
The UK seems to be faring well in the hotel market despite the recession, two separate studies have shown.
According to the September 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report, London is the second most active city in the hotel development pipeline in Europe.
During September 547 hotels were identified as being at pre-planning and planning stages or under construction. They comprised 89,205 rooms.
Berlin reported the largest amount of rooms at 4,210, while London came in at 3,768, and Munich 2,082.
Both London and Berlin ended the month with more than 1,000 rooms in the construction phase at 3,172 and 1,267 respectively.
Elsewhere, findings from online hotel booking agent hotel.info found that hotel room rates in the UK have been encouragingly resilient to the economic downturn.
The price index for quarter three of 2009 showed that, on average, hotel room rates in the UK fell by 1.01% from the second to the third quarter of 2009, while the year-on-year comparison revealed a decrease of 2.75%.
The findings suggest that UK hotel rates have been relatively stable compared with the rest of the world, the hotel agent said.
The results also showed that budget brands are still outdoing high-end luxury properties.
One star hotels recorded a rise of 1.32% between the third quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of 2009; compared with room rate falls of 4.97% recorded by five star hotel chains over the same period.
However, separate research published by Santander Corporate Banking revealed that 11% of hospitality and leisure companies and 10% of travel firms feel they need additional borrowing to ensure their company survives the current economic downturn.
National figures stand at 5% borrowing to survive.
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By Helen Gilbert
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