November sales figures for hotels in the UK capital leapt by more then 15%, according to the latest data from TRI Hospitality Consulting's HotStats survey.

The pre-Christmas boost in room revenue per available room was driven by both a rate and an occupancy increase and revpar is now just under ￡100 at ￡99.22. Occupancy was up 2.2 percentage points to reach 86.1 per cent and room rate increased by 12.3 per cent to ￡115.28.

"This is welcome news for hotel operators and owners in London and means the full year results will show a strong double digit increase in revpar," said Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Figures for the first 11 months of 2006 show that London revpar is up 13.6 per cent to ￡84.90, thanks particularly to a strong occupancy performance, up 4.6 percentage points to 83.5 per cent, and just as strong rate improvement, up 7.4 per cent to ￡101.72.

"Due to the London bombings last July, rate and particularly occupancy was weaker over the summer months than had been expected. The recovery has been both quick and strong and has seen this year make up for much of the lost ground of last year," said Langston.

Outside of London the performance has been steadier. Occupancy has been flat and revpar increases have come from a modest lift in room rates.

During the month of November, occupancy was up 0.8 points to 74.2 per cent while rate was up 3.8 per cent to ￡72.38. This meant revpar was up 4.9 per cent to ￡53.72.

This is very similar to the pattern for the year-to-date, with occupancy up just 0.2 points at 72.3 per cent and rate up 3.4 per cent to ￡70.21, giving a room revpar uplift of 3.8 per cent to ￡50.79.

"It has been a steady year for hotels in the provinces and while sales have been slightly ahead of inflation, the rises have not kept pace with costs," said Langston.

Visitor numbers increase but fears over tax hike

Official government figures for overseas tourist arrivals show an eight per cent increase in visits for the three months to the end of October to reach 8.86 million. Spending by these visitors was up six per cent to reach ￡4.435bn.

The number of visitors from North America grew only modestly, up one per cent, reflecting the increasingly unfavourable dollar exchange rate for arrivals from the US.

UKinbound, the official trade body for the inbound tourist industry in the UK, found that there was a 4.4 per cent increase in visitor arrivals during October, according to figures on its own Business Barometer. Most worryingly it found that forward bookings reported by its members were down 7.9 per cent. UKinbound commented that the increases in October did not make up for the drop experienced in 2005 stating that this was "a clear indication of difficult trading conditions".

Airports operator BAA found that traffic through the seven airports it runs, which include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, was up 2.1 per cent. North Atlantic traffic, however, was down 3.7 per cent.

BAA separately issued a comment on the increase in Air Passenger Duty where it said air passengers would now pay ￡2bn a year in green tax, which covers the full costs of aviation's environmental impact. It called for aviation to be included in the Europe-wide carbon trading scheme as this was the best long-term solution rather than the blunt instrument of taxation.

"The increase in Air Passenger Duty will inevitably impact on arrivals to the UK. The tax increase is particularly significant for long-haul passengers and this, combined with the weak dollar, will deter a significant number of travellers from the US," said Langston.

For more information contact Jonathan Langston on 020 7486 5191 or email jonathan.langston@trihc.com.