Prices drop at Bristol hotels

Bristol hotels are charging 15 per cent less for rooms than they were a year ago.

The average number of guests is 12 per cent down on last year so hotels have dropped prices to boost trade.

But hotel rooms might soon be hard to come by with the Banksy exhibition at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery attracting thousands to the city.

Average room occupancy was 64.5 per cent during April compared to 77.1 per cent at the same time in 2008.

PKF Hotel Consultancy Services said hotels are now charging an average of £68 per room, more than 15 per cent less than last year, to attract customers.

Bristol's figures reflect a general trend across the country with the UK's second and third largest cities – Birmingham and Leeds – also having a particularly grim April.

Birmingham hoteliers suffered a 20 per cent drop in occupancy and 15 per cent reduction in room rate.

Neil Dimes, partner in charge for PKF's Bristol office, said: "The worsening scenario in Bristol must be of serious concern to the hotel industry.

"It is too soon to say how much the April Easter is responsible for the dire results but we can only hope that the glimmerings of more positive economic news among the gloomy headlines will result in a better second half of the year."

Del Brett, managing director of Future Inns UK which has just opened a new hotel at Cabot Circus, said: "While the data for the month of April is indicating a rather steep decline in the three key indicators of hotel revenue for Bristol, I believe the year-to-date decline of just 9.6 per cent is actually quite encouraging in a relative sense.

"Bearing in mind that the UK economy did not slip into recession until the second half of 2008, and that we are still comparing against a period of robust activity last year, the rate of decline for the year-to-date is relatively modest in Bristol.

"As Easter fell in April rather than March this year, it is to be expected that an April comparison would be a difficult one. Comparing the Bristol market to other primary UK destinations, it is clear that the economy is well diversified, and positioned to remain resilient during the remainder of this recession.

"Bristol was buzzing this time last year with many visitors who were working to complete the new Cabot Circus development so the numbers were somewhat inflated for that period.

"There is no denying that the current economic recession is impacting hotel revenues in Bristol at this time, although there are few markets in the UK which would provide us with greater confidence to be opening a new hotel this year. "This stems from the excellent mix of public and private sector employers in the city, and from the wide range of special events which assist in driving weekend occupancy."