Olympics could deliver gold for hotels

London’s hoteliers can look forward to a good year in 2012, providing the Olympic Games lives up to expectations to produce a strong third quarter, according to a report.

Occupancy levels in the capital’s hotels are likely to soar during the third quarter of 2012, with the Olympic Games, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Farnborough International Air Show all attracting a high number of visitors, according to PwC’s UK Hotels Forecast.

The average daily room rate of a London hotel is expected to increase by 32.3 per cent against the previous year’s third quarter figures, rising to £182.58. Occupancy levels are expected to hit 92 per cent in the third quarter of 2012, while revenue per available room is expected to rise by 40.3 per cent to an average of £167.86.

London’s average daily room rate could rise by as much as 5.7 per cent in 2012, according to PwC’s report, while the revenue per available rooms could go up by 8.3 per cent. This compares to a forecasted rate gain of 2.4 per cent around the rest of the country, with occupancy levels increasing by about 1.5 per cent. Revenue per available rooms could grow by 4.2 per cent.

A number of new hotels have been opened in the capital to deal with the expected flood of visitors to the Olympic Games, while more are due to open before July next year.

Some 6,000 new rooms are predicted to open in London during the remainder of 2011 and in the coming year. Bulgari, Citizen M, London Edition, the Belgraves – a Thompson hotel, ME by Melia, Aloft and Shangri-La at the Shard are among the most exciting new hotels to appear in the capital.

The development of these new hotels has been spread across London. Central boroughs such as Camden, Southwark, Westminster, Lambeth and the City have all seen new venues open their doors, according to the report, but areas on the outskirts of the capital also have new hotels.

“For example, the London Boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets have seen the Town House lifestyle hotel open as well as extensions to existing hotels, such as the Ruskin Arms and the Forest Gate as well as the Holiday Inn Express at Stratford in 2010,” said the report.

New hotels in these boroughs include IHG hotels the Holiday Inn and Stalybridge Suites at Westfield Stratford City and Premier Inn’s new £25m hotel, which features great views of the Olympic Stadium.