Bristol Hotel Recovery Stalls In March

The latest figures for the Bristol hotel sector showed a slight dip in fortunes during March.

That’s the view according to the latest set of figures from the Bristol office of PKF Accountants & business advisers which showed that occupancy, average room rates and rooms yield all dropped in comparison to the same time last year.

But before managers start thinking the recovery has been stalled they’ll be pleased to know that the drop in occupancy was only marginal in comparison to 2009.

The March figures show that occupancy was down 2.3% from 68.5% in 2009 to 66.9% in 2010. In addition average room rates dropped 4.9% from £74.95 in 2009 to £71.28 in 2010. The overall effect on rooms yield was a drop of 7.1% down from £51.30 in 2009 to 47.69 in 2010.

Neil Dimes, partner in charge at the Bristol office of PKF said: “The market is still in a delicate state with managers and owners having to balance their room rates in order to maintain occupancy levels.

“With the economy still in the early days of recovery many businesses are still trying to save on costs where possible and is no doubt having an impact on overnight stays. It is also worth noting that the Easter holidays were relatively early this year with many schools closing towards the end of the month. This again may have impacted on the number of business people staying in the city as they took time off over the holiday period.”

Del Brett from Future Inns added, “In Bristol, March was a month of continued growth at our property, and whilst still slightly below target, gives confidence that the effects of the recession are giving way to a period of slow but sustainable improvement.

“Business conference business is showing renewed strength, along with weekend leisure-related stays. The remaining challenge is price sensitivity. It appears that the competitive landscape is still fierce, and that many hotel operators have continued to offer exceptionally low rates in order to fill bedrooms. We expect this trend to ease in the coming months and for the Bristol market to make further strides toward good health later this year.”

Meanwhile in Bath, occupancy remained stable increasing only slightly by 0.4% in comparison to 2009 while average room rates in the world heritage city also rose 2.9% from £85.03 in 2009 to £87.50 in 2010. Rooms yield also increased by 3.3% from £65.19 in 2009 to £67.38 in 2010.

In Cheltenham occupancy also rose by 3.6% with the Cheltenham race festival helping hoteliers fill their rooms while in Swindon the sector was still struggling with occupancy down by 3.0%, average room rates down 11.1% and rooms yield down 13.8%.