By Daniel Hunter
The UK hotel sector continued its strong run in September with another impressive set of results, according to preliminary figures released by business advisory and accountancy firm, BDO LLP.
The performance of London hotels was particularly impressive, with room rate increasing by 8.9% to £145.37, compared with £133.51 in September 2012. This, combined with a slight increase in occupancy from 87.6% to 87.7%, resulted in rooms yield growth of 8.9% from £117.05 to £127.48.
In the regions, room rate rose by 1.8% to reach £63.42, compared with £62.31 exactly 12 months earlier, and occupancy grew by 4.0% year-on-year from 76.4% to 79.5%. Rooms yield consequently improved by 5.9% from £47.62 to £50.43.
Robert Barnard, partner at BDO LLP, commented: "The UK hotel sector has stepped up a gear over the past few months. Encouragingly, the strong figures that we've seen since the start of the summer chime with the conversations that we're having with hotel operators throughout the country.
"That said, the sector isn't getting carried away — we've seen too many false dawns over the past couple of years for that to happen - and the prevailing sentiment remains one of cautious optimism.
"For the time being, operators continue to cross their fingers that consumer and business confidence maintains its upward trajectory while also making sure that they stay attractively priced in what remains a highly competitive market."
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