The 2023 Uk Hotel Economy

A snapshot of the UK Hotel Economy in 2023 by our Managing Director, Darren Patt.

06 June 2023

The General market in the UK has sustained growth from leisure and corporate markets. In some cases achieving rates in excess of pre-COVId 2019.

The forecast for leisure business is predicted to soften as average spends are hindered by the costs of living. Those assets that are at the top of their game will come out ahead- achieving consistency in service delivery behind a good quality product will be the differentiator.

The Southwest continues to outperform provincial markets, benefitting from corporate events reaching out of major cities. Corporate conference business has very short lead times - assets that are relationship-led have the market share. Sustainability and rate are high on the tick list.

In some geographic areas, RevPar is artificially being held through a shortfall in available accommodation. This is due to the number of assets out of circulation with migrant contracts.

Continued pressure on conversion through increased costs, and overleveraged assets due for double-digit debt refinancing, will have a positive effect on the number of assets coming to market for sale. This combined with in some cases the end of migrant contracts- we foresee the hotel transaction market to become buoyant. Cash will be king as liquidity in the market is harder to come by.