The fall was driven by a 6.5% decline in average room rates to £85.93 and a 1.6 percentage point drop in occupancy to 72.7%.
Full-year gross operating profit per available room decreased by 11.4% nationwide to £39.61.
Hotels in London saw revPAR fall 6.4% to £89.04 last year.
The capital’s occupancy remained near flat (-0.4pp) at 80.3%, while rates were 6% lower than in 2008 at £110.82. Gross operating profit per available room declined by 7.8% year-on-year to £58.64.
‘London hoteliers appear to have got the proposition absolutely right with the massive declines in profitability experienced in January 2009 now a distant memory,’ commented Jonathan Langston, TRI managing director.
‘Anticipated revenue growth in 2010 and a continued watchful eye on costs bode well for the capital’s hotels.’
Regional hotels fared worse than their London counterparts last year, experiencing a 15.5% drop in profitability to £28.51. However, this was much improved from the 28.8% decline witnessed in January 2009.
There were contrasting fortunes across many of the UK’s bigger regional markets, with corporate destinations such as Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool seeing profitability plunge by 22.7%, 28.7% and 26.4% respectively.
But hotel profitability in leisure-driven destinations, such as Brighton, York and Blackpool, grew by 0.5%, 0.9% and 6.4%, thanks to the ‘staycation’ trend for British consumers to holiday at home.
Full-year regional revPAR was down 10.8% at £46.83, driven by a 7.8% fall in rates to £68.65 and 2.3pp lower occupancy at 68.2%.
See also:
Hopes for hotel trade recovery (25/01/2010)
Big freeze boosts airport hotels (18/01/2010)
London hotels recover as regionals struggle (05/01/2010)
London ‘getting to grips with the recession’ (04/01/2010)
Room rates could take five years to recover (23/12/2009)