London hotels regain lost ground from 2005 bombings

London hotels have achieved a swift recovery from the July bombings of 2005, according to the latest HotStats figures from Tri Hospitality Consulting.

It revealed that the capital's hotels achieved a pre-Christmas boost in revenue per available room (revpar) of 15.1% during the month of November.

Revpar rose to £99.22, up from £86.17 in November 2005, on the back of a 12.3% increase in room rate to £115.28 (from £102.69 in the same month the year before) and a 2.2 percentage point rise in occupancy to 86.1%.

"The recovery has been both quick and strong and has seen this year make up for much of the lost ground of the last year," commented Jonathan Langston, managing director at Tri.

"This is welcome news for hotel operators and owners in London and means the full year results will show a strong double-digit increase in revpar."

Regional hotels showed steadier, more modest growth. Revpar grew by 4.9% to £53.72 (from £51.20 in November 2005) thanks to a 3.8% surge in room rate to £72.38 from £69.71 a year ago.

Occupancy was almost static in the provinces, nudging ahead by just 0.8 percentage points to 74.2%.

TRI HotStats - monthly UK hotel figures >>

By Angela Frewin

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