City hotel demand keeps pace with supply
Liverpool saw strong hotel occupancy levels for February with weekend figures the highest in the five years records have been kept, at 86% full.
The weekend room yield averaged £58.53, an increase of 1.7% on 2009. The figures, compiled using the LJ Forecaster model, showed overall hotel occupancy of 67% in February, above the same period in 2009, when 65.5% was recorded, and identical to that in 2007.
The recorded occupancy levels are all the more encouraging given the continuing growth in hotel room stock. Overlaying these numbers onto known city centre stock levels shows that 20% more rooms were sold in the city in February 2010 than in February 2008, the city's celebratory year as European Capital of Culture.
Total number of rooms sold in the city centre has grown over the years as new hotels have opened:
- 74,0000 in February 2010
- 63,0000 in February 2009
- 62,0000 in February 2008
- 52,0000 in February 2007
Lorraine Rogers, chief executive of The Mersey Partnership, the official tourist board for Liverpool city region, said: "Last month's hotel occupancy figures are encouraging for the local visitor economy, especially given the tough economic climate.
"TMP is working closely with our Members in a variety of ways to attract visitors, including national marketing campaigns and attractive offers on our consumer website http://www.visitliverpool.com/.
"A number of new hotels and accommodation providers have launched in the last 12 months, with more still to come in the next 18 months – making the industry more competitive than ever, but this also gives visitors more choice and will encourage them to make return journeys to the city region."
Advance bookings for time of the Liberal Democrat conference, 18-22 September, are at 58%.
Liverpool city region's visitor economy is worth £1.6bn a year and supports 23,000 jobs.
