Guests like hotel brands

15 September 2006
Guests like hotel brands

I am writing in reference to your article "Sophisticated guests opt for independents" (Caterer, 24 August, page 9](http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=308463)).

I was very surprised to read the results published from Mintel's Hotels - UK report. BDRC has researched this issue for many years in the BDRC British Hotel Guest Survey and results from there show a very different picture.

The most recent survey revealed that only 7.4% of all domestic business hotel volume was spent in independent hotels, with the remainder spent in branded chain or group hotels. Even though the share of nights in the UK for leisure reasons is nearly twice as much, it is still rather low - at just under 14%.

In the same survey, British business travellers were asked to what extent they agreed with the statement "Branded hotels generally perform better than their unbranded equivalents". Well over half (55%) agreed or agreed strongly, with only 17% disagreeing, which is a ratio of more than 3:1. Among domestic frequent stayers, the proportion agreeing with the statement rises to more than 60%.

I do not want to deny that there is a market for the independent hotel owner. However, the branded hotel market has fared very well in recent years and occupancy figures for hotel chains confirm that they do not lose out to their independent counterparts.

Tim Sander
Associate Director, BDRC, London

Have your say
[Click here to e-mail your comments. The editor reserves the right to edit comments.

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking