UK hotels lose out as Brexit poll keeps business visitors away
The accountancy giant said that occupancy rates are already down 1.8% this year to 81% and will drop by a further 0.8% next year — their lowest level in nine years.
London’s hoteliers are facing a vicious cocktail of Brexit-induced slashed corporate spending, a glut of supply and competition from the likes of rental site Airbnb.
VisitBritain data shows more than 3.7 million people visited London from overseas for business last year while about 7,200 new hotel rooms will be offered to guests next year, the highest level since the 2012 Olympic Games.
Revpar, an industry measure of profitability, will fall by 2.8% this year and 0.5% in 2017, PwC said.
“Next year will be another difficult one for the capital’s hotel industry, on top of an already negative 2016,” Liz Hall, PwC’s head of UK hospitality and leisure research said.
“Brexit will compound weaker demand we’ve been seeing since the first of the terrorist attacks in November, and business travel will be affected as companies try to get some clarity on how this will affect their UK operations.”
However, the capital’s hotel operators are expected to have enjoyed a boost since Brexit as the weaker pound has attracted big-spending tourists to London.
