Bristol’s hotel sector continues to underperform in comparison with its neighbour Swindon, according to a new survey from leading business advisory firm Deloitte.

The firm’s latest HotelBenchmark Survey reveals that as a whole, the UK hotel industry enjoyed a healthy 4.4 per cent increase in revenue per available room (revPAR) in 2007, with London recording double-digit growth.

Meanwhile Swindon saw an 8.2 per cent revPAR rise, with occupancy rates touching 70 per cent and average room rates up 6 per cent to £60, driven by an increase in business and passing trade.

By contrast, Bristol’s revPAR figure for the year was down 3.1 per cent to £52, although this remains £10 higher than the figure for Swindon. In addition, occupancy rates in Bristol stand at almost 74 per cent and the average room rate at £70, both of which represent small increases on the previous quarterly figures.

Aberdeen has the fastest growing revPAR of any UK hotel market according to the Deloitte research, enjoying growth of over 17 per cent, thanks to strong weekday business demand from the North Sea oil industry.

Outside London, Glasgow follows with growth of 10.5 per cent. However, the revPAR of both Glasgow and Aberdeen is still substantially lower than Edinburgh which, at £69, commands the highest rates outside the capital.

Denis Woulfe, practice senior partner at Deloitte in Bristol, said: “Last year was another good year for the UK hotel market, with strong gains in many UK cities, despite a weakening economic environment in the last quarter. The question is how much longer double-digit growth can continue.

“So far, the UK hotel industry appears unscathed by troubles across the Atlantic and at home, but with an increasingly gloomy global outlook it would be a brave man to predict that 2008 will be as good as 2007.“

However Mr Woulfe predicts the credit situation is unlikely to have an impact on new hotel developments.

“Although the cost of financing new developments may have risen, with land scarce and hotel projects having long build times, I expect these to continue largely unaffected. New supply will remain subdued and demand is strong with the increasing focus of the world on London as we head for 2012,” said Mr Woulfe.

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