The latest figures for the Swindon hotel sector shows little sign of an upturn.
The release of data from PKF Accountants & business advisers for March highlights that hoteliers are still struggling to fill rooms across the town.
In March occupancy was down 3.0% from 66.2% in 2009 to 64.2% in 2010 with average room rates also down, falling 11.1% from £63.69 in 2009 to £56.62 in 2010.
The overall impact on rooms yields was a drop of 13.8% from £42.15 in 2009 to £36.35 in 2010.
It means the run of poor months for the Swindon hotel sector continues with the recession still impacting on the uptake of rooms.
Neil Dimes, partner in charge at the Bristol office of PKF said: “The hotel sector in Swindon is more reliant on mid week bookings from business travellers and conferences. With uncertainty still very much circulating around the economy it seems businesses are reluctant to spend money on hotel rooms and are cutting back on any unnecessary stopovers.
“It would appear that until the general economic situation improves, the Swindon hotel sector will continue to struggle and will have to focus more on recovery than growth for the remainder of 2010.”
Elsewhere in the West, occupancy in Bath remained stable increasing slightly by 0.4% in comparison to 2009 while average room rates in the world heritage city also rose 2.9% from £85.03 in 2009 to £87.50 in 2010. Rooms yield increased by 3.3% from £65.19 in 2009 to £67.38 in 2010.
In Bristol occupancy was down 2.3% from 68.5% in 2009 to 66.9% in 2010. In addition, average room rates dropped 4.9% from £74.95 in 2009 to £71.28 in 2010. The overall effect on rooms yield was a drop of 7.1% down from £51.30 in 2009 to 47.69 in 2010.
