Swindon’s hotels put in an ‘encouraging’ performance during November, with increased bookings but a fall-off in the average price charged per room, according to new figures.
The result is continued pressure to lower prices to win new business, the latest hotel survey by accountants PKF says.
It shows occupancy levels among the town’s larger hotels in November increased by 6.4 per cent to 65.4 per cent compared to the same month in 2009.
However, average room rates fell by 5.2 per cent to £56.69 resulting in an average yield of £36.75 per room – only slightly up on the year.
Neil Dimes, PKF’s partner in charge in the South West, said: “These results come on the back of a series of good months for the Swindon hotel sector and, overall, continue the encouraging trend.
“However, it is apparent that in order to attract customers and keep up occupancy, managers and owners have had to drop their prices.
“The December figures will be interesting as the majority of the bad weather fell in this month. This can be both good and bad for hoteliers, with some losing out on bookings because travellers couldn’t get to their destination, while others benefited from stranded passengers looking for a bed for the night.
“Looking into 2011, we have mentioned previously that the government’s spending cuts are likely to impact regional hotels so it will be interesting to see what happens over the coming months.”
Swindon’s hotels performed better than those in Bath, where occupancy increased by just 1.7 per cent to 75.2 per cent although average room rates increased by 6.9 per cent to £102.37. Bristol’s occupancy rose 11.1 per cent along with average room rates up by 1.8 per cent.
Hotels taking part in PKF’s trends surveys are mainly in the three and star categories and include chain-owned and independent hotels.
