United Kingdom Hotels Peform Well in Q-1, Says STR Global

---

According to new data from STR Global, the United Kingdom hotel industry reported positive revenue-per-available-room growth in the first-quarter of 2011.

The U.K.'s RevPAR rose 3.8 percent to £50.67. The increase in RevPAR came as a result of average daily rate (ADR) increasing by 4.1 percent to £79.62, whilst occupancies fell slightly by 0.3 percent to 63.6 percent. 

UK quarter one hotel performance ranked by top/bottom RevPAR change



Looking at the top four performing cities in terms of RevPAR gains, both Nottingham and Plymouth had strong occupancy growth (11.0 percent and 13.6 percent respectively), in excess of modest or declining ADR. A decrease in the supply of rooms in Nottingham (-1.6 percent) likely had some influence on the ADR increase. London tied with Norwich for third place for best Q1 RevPAR growth with an increase of 7.3 percent. Despite falling occupancy, London's ADR climbed to £123.67. 

The greatest declines in RevPAR were seen in Bradford, Gatwick Airport and Liverpool, all destinations effected by increases in the supply of rooms for the first-quarter 2011. Bradford, with the largest fall in RevPAR of 11.1 percent, also saw the highest increase in room supply of 21.3 percent. An increase in room supply of 7.6 percent in Liverpool contributed to falls in occupancy (-3.1 percent) and ADR (-5.2 percent). Gatwick also was affected by an increase in room supply of 4.9 percent. However the poor year-on-year performance at Gatwick Airport is attributable in part to the profitable start of 2010 when passengers were stranded due to the heavy snows at the start of that year. With growth in ADR holding firm at 1.0 percent, demand has been spread across more rooms this year at Gatwick, resulting in declining occupancy of 9.2 percent and the resulting fall in RevPAR.

STR Global currently samples more than 240,000 guest rooms in the U.K. from luxury to budget hotels.

---