Hotel occupancy figures in Bristol increased during March but rooms yields still fell in the city, according to new figures released by the Bristol office of business advisory and accountancy firm BDO LLP [data previously compiled by PKF Accountants & business advisers, which recently merged with BDO LLP].
Occupancy in the city increased by 1.9% to 73.3%, compared with 71.9% in March 2012, but room rate fell by 3.5% from £66.32 to £64.01. As a result, rooms yield for Bristol fell by 1.7% to £46.92.
Elsewhere in the South West, Bath saw rooms yield fall by 6.7% off the back of an 8% fall in occupancy levels, while in Swindon hoteliers enjoyed an increase in rooms yield of 1.8% after occupancy increased by 4.3%.
Neil Dimes, Partner at BDO’s Bristol office, said: “It has been a mixed month for hoteliers in Bristol, with occupancy rising at the expense of room rate. This suggests that at least some operators in the city have been discounting their prices in order to fill empty rooms.
“Revenue management of this sort can provide a short term fillip but, with business and consumer confidence still struggling to recover, it’s unlikely to be a long term solution to the challenges facing the UK hotel sector at the moment.”
Data for March 2013*
|
|
2013
|
2012
|
% change
|
|
Bristol hotels
|
|
|
|
|
Average daily room rate per occupied room
|
£64.01
|
£66.32
|
-3.5%
|
|
Average daily room occupancy
|
73.3%
|
71.9%
|
1.9%
|
|
Average daily rooms yield per available room
|
£46.92
|
£47.71
|
-1.7%
|
|
Bath hotels
|
|
|
|
|
Average daily room rate per occupied room
|
£87.19
|
£85.96
|
1.4%
|
|
Average daily room occupancy
|
66.7%
|
72.5%
|
-8%
|
|
Average daily rooms yield per available room
|
£58.16
|
£62.33
|
-6.7%
|
|
Swindon hotels
|
|
|
|
|
Average daily room rate per occupied room
|
£54.29
|
£55.64
|
-2.4%
|
|
Average daily room occupancy
|
63.5%
|
60.9%
|
4.3%
|
|
Average daily rooms yield per available room
|
£34.47
|
£33.87
|
1.8%
|
*Differences may be due to rounding
