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Cutbacks in business trips leave hotels feeling pinch
Kiran Randhawa22.10.08
THE hotel industry has been hit hard by the global financial crisis. New figures today reveal a sharp fall in bookings across London on last year.
Five-star hotels, including The Dorchester, the Mandarin Oriental and the Four Seasons, saw a 17 per cent decrease in bookings last month compared with September last year.
Four-star hotels saw a four per cent decline and three-star hotels experienced a five per cent decrease during the same period.
In August, at the height of the holiday season, the number of bookings made at five-star hotels dropped by nine per cent. Every month so far this year, apart from April, has seen a downturn in the number of people checking into the city's hotels.
Five-star hotels across the capital have seen a six per cent decrease in bookings from January to September this year compared with the same period last year.
The figures, released by STR Global, a leader in providing market data on the hotel industry, and based on numbers from 87 hotels in London, are believed to reflect a downturn in the number of business travellers to Britain.
Jamie Chappell, managing director of STR Global, said: "Corporate travel will certainly be declining and those hotels reliant on corporate customers will definitely suffer."
Russell Ketts, managing director of specialist hotel consultancy HVS International, said: "With not as many deals being made and transaction activity low, there is not as much occasion to travel as there used to be. Those people who normally attend conferences are looking carefully at expenditure and as a result they are not travelling as much."
He added that things are expected to get worse next year. "I foresee more significant declines in the first quarter of next year," said Mr Ketts. "It's an inevitability, unfortunately."
Reader views (3)
Interesting that Corporate Bookings are at 5 star level when they should be watching the costs, but hey us customers will bail them out.
- Ayliff Mcnab, Spain
The cost of hotel accommodation in London is far too high. Often the service is indifferent and then there are extra charges for breakfast and even for using the internet. I am pleased to see that prices have fallen slightly but there is still a long way to go before prices are reasonable.
- Simon, London
Then hopefully, a night's stay in a London hotel will drop from their current exorbitant levels so that ordinary mortals can afford them. No sign of it yet- have a look at Laterooms etc.
- Sc, Essex
