London hotels showing slight signs of improvement

Hoteliers from the capital have said that they have seen a slight increase in occupancy percentages last month, while there out of town counterparts are still showing no signs of improvement.

For the month of July there was an increase of 1.7 per cent occupancy in London hotels compared to the same time last year, but prices for hotels had also seen a dramatic drop encouraging more custom.

The rest of the country marked a drop of 4.3 per cent in figures compared to July of 2008 where occupancy rates were sitting at 77.7 per cent. These hotels have also dropped the prices of their rooms, but it does not appear to have helped them overall.

“London’s increased occupancy rate was ‘healthy’ and encouraging. The strength of the Euro is likely to be one of the reasons behind this. Room rates are still struggling, but this is not surprising given the current climate. In the regions, although results overall were down, individual cities that made impressive gains are a positive sign,” Robert Barnard from PFK Hotel Consultancy Services.

Cardiff was one individual city that reported a massive growth in occupancy for July. However that is largely thought to be because of the first Ashes cricket test that was held there, the first not to be played in England or Australia.