London hotels see ‘record-low’ occupancy in July

STR’s preliminary July data for London hotels has revealed “record-low” occupancy for the sector.

Occupancy slumped by 74.8% to 22.8% compared with the same month last year. Additionally, average daily rate (ADR) also declined by 52.4% to £83.61 and revenue per available room (RevPAR) decreased by 88% to £19.02

However, STR said ADR and RevPAR were up on June’s levels, and regional markets in the UK continue to outperform capital cities. STR added: “The absolute occupancy level would be the lowest for any month on record in STR’s London database.”

It comes after a study led by the University of Bath found that hotel marketing must “focus less on the hard facts of Covid-19 policies and more on the emotional story behind them” to encourage tourists to return.

Its findings show that marketing that emphasises the “shared emotional responses” to risks will enable tourists to “humanise” the hotel brand, and encourage them to make a booking as restrictions continue to ease.

Researchers from the Universities of Bath, East Anglia (UEA), and the University of the West of England (UWE) said recent study findings challenge the approach that “dominates” current crisis communication, which is to “focus on commitment to cleanliness and the hotel’s cancellation policy”.