Hotels in Wales hit by recession

www.deloitte.com

In both the leisure and corporate travel sectors, hotels across the UK are continuing to feel the effects of the recession, according to the latest figures.

Wales is no exception. The business advisory group Deloitte is reporting that hotel occupancy in Cardiff was down by five per cent for the first quarter, as compared with the same three months last year, from 64.8 per cent to 59.6 per cent.

Average room rates in Cardiff increased by £4 during the quarter, year-on-year, with revenue per available room – or revpar – up by £1.

John Antoniazzi, a partner at Deloitte Cardiff, commented: “This is an even worse blow as this year Easter was in Q1 while it was in Q2 last year so we would have expected a stronger performance in this quarter’s figures which hasn’t happened.”

He went on to say: “London by comparison is performing better with occupancy rates than regional destinations because of the weak pound. For those who earn US dollars or euros, London is less expensive than it has been for a number of years, and therefore tourists are keen to take advantage of this and are helping to fill London hotels.”

Antoniazzi noted that the tourism trend did not seem to have yet taken hold in Wales.

The hotel occupancy survey conducted by Deloitte found that cities across Wales saw an average overall decline in revpar of 10.3 per cent, or £5.

Thanks to www.walesonline.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.deloitte.com