Bath has recorded the highest increase in revenue per available room (revpar) out of 12 UK cities reviewed in the Hotel Bulletin: Q1 2015.
Produced by AlixPartners, AM:PM and HVS, the report shows the revpar growth in Bath for the first three months of the year was 20%.
The popular tourist city receives 30 million overseas visitors per year and is set to benefit substantially from the relaxation of visa requirements for Chinese tour operators and business travellers. Bath expects to achieve a 40% increase in Chinese tourists this year.
Outside London, revpar across the 11 featured cities grew by an average of 7%. While this is lower than the 19% average revpar growth in the last two quarters, it is well above GDP growth.
Meanwhile, the capital recorded a revpar decline of just under 1% – a reflection, perhaps, of the 19% increase in the number of hotel bedrooms since early 2011. Overall, the London market remained resilient, having recorded an average revpar increase of 14% during the past four years.
Aberdeen was the only other city reviewed to record a revpar decline in the first quarter, down 10% compared to Q1 2014. Since the second quarter of 2013, the number of bedrooms in the city has increased by 14% in response to unprecedented growth in demand fuelled by the oil boom.
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