Hotels in Europe more resilient to US decline

Europe's hotels are better placed to survive the economic decline in the USA, than the previous recession in the early 1990s, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

The report said the markets showed a less marked pattern of highs and lows. Supply and demand trends were both found to be more manageable, meaning there would be fewer hotels standing empty.

More manageable supply is also a result of greater demand. According to the report, the economy is now more global than in the early 1990s.

Arthur de Haast, managing director, Europe at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, said: "The corporate market is likely to rebound much faster than after the last downturn. Today we have more global organisations compared to just the multinational companies in the last recession."

Although London dominates the UK economy and attracts a high level of foreign and domestic visitors, it has not gone unscathed. Arrivals have recently declined thanks to the combined impact of the slowdown in the US economy and the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.