Sun shines on UK domestic travel according to Deloitte Survey.

Regional UK hotel performance is at an all time high having recovered ground lost due to 9/11 and foot and mouth to name but two challenges that the industry has dealt with in the recent past. According to the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte results for January - April show revenue per available room (revPAR) has increased by 4% compared to the same period last year.

The most significant improvement is in Liverpool, in line with resurgence on the football pitch of the city's two teams, where revPAR is up 18% from £39 to £45 compared to the first four months of last year.

Gatwick is the biggest winner in the airport hotel market with average room rates rising £6 to £66. In Scotland, Aberdeen is leading the way with revPAR up from £33 to £37 (12%).

Marvin Rust, Hospitality managing partner at Deloitte, says: "Domestic travel has driven up occupancy and room rates across the regions. All of the top performers this quarter also have local airports, illustrating the direct benefits of transport infrastructure to the regional tourism industry."

"Although the industry is expected to face more challenging market conditions with the downturn in UK consumer spending and the slowdown of the housing market, the figures show that the customer is still prepared to travel and that hoteliers marketing efforts are successful."

"This quarter's results support our forecast revPAR growth for regional UK hotels in 2005 of 4.3%."

The HotelBenchmark Survey contains the largest independent source of hotel performance data outside of North America and tracks the performance of over 6,500 hotels and 1.2 million rooms every month. Monthly surveys are produced on the following areas:

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