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According to the latest report from HotStats, regional hotel chains across the UK registered mixed year-on-year profit growth during May, while hotels in the capital experienced an overall decline.
Hotels in the West Midlands performed particularly well, registering 4.7% growth in gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) despite overheads per available room increasing by 1%. In the area, average room rate (ARR) increased by 2.5% to £72.03 while occupancy grew by 1% to 69.5%; this resulted in an increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR) of 4% to £50.09.
However, the report revealed that travel agency commission per available room among West Midlands hotels rose by 19.2% to £5.03, meaning that £0.81 (41.5%) of the £1.95 gain in RevPAR was paid to third party intermediaries.
Chain hotels in Brighton registered a drop in GOPPAR of 6.4% to £46.05 and this was namely driven by a decrease in earnings from food (-5.8%), beverage (-2.3%) and meeting room hire (-26.2%). A 0.9% increase in payroll costs and 12.8% increase in overheads per available room contributed further to the drop in GOPPAR and as a result, hotels registered a mere 0.9% increase in total revenue per available room (TRevPAR) to £123.11 during May.
But, it wasn't all doom and gloom for chain hotels in Brighton: hoteliers did register a 3.7% increase in demand, and a 1.5% increase in ARR resulted in RevPAR growth of 6.5% year-on-year.
In Nottingham, hotels registered 2.8% and 2.6% growth in RevPAR and TRevPAR, respectively. However, this had no impact on hoteliers' bottom-line performance, as GOPARR remained stable at £23. ARR among hotels in the area rose by 4.4% while occupancy decreased by 1%, leading to RevPAR jumping to £43.25.
Performance was mixed in hotel ancillary departments during May, contributing to a growth in TRevPAR of 2.6% to £77.89. Payroll costs increased by 1%; this, along with 2.2% growth in overheads per available room, impacted growth profit and resulted in GOPARR stagnating during May.
