For Austrian Airlines, the first quarter (Q1) of this year marked a positive growth in passenger volume with some 2.2 million passengers carried between January and March, a 6.6 percent increase over the same period in 2016.

Following two years of declining profit, addresses in Glasgow recorded two consecutive months of profit growth.

Hotstats has released UK Chain Hotels Market Review February 2017, which revealed record performance in the West Midlands and growing momentum in Glasgow, despite declining parameters for properties near Heathrow Airport.

Record Occupancy in West Midlands Properties

Hoteliers in the West Midlands have achieved top line performance as occupancy in February soared beyond previous levels.

However, this has been at the expense of a 10.4 increase in rooms costs of sales to 10.5 percent of rooms revenue. 

A 5.1 percent increase in rooms payroll per available room resulted in rooms profit conversion at hotels to fall 0.6 percentage points to 67.7 percent of rooms revenue.

This came in the face of a 3.9 percent increase in RevPAR compared to February 2016.

Moreover, properties saw healthy growth in non-rooms revenue which contributed to a 3.3 percent year-on-year surge in total RevPAR and a 4.8 percent boost in gross operating profit per room.

Profit Declines at Heathrow Hotels

Even though Heathrow Airport recorded its best ever February, profit per room at nearby hotels fell 4.3 percent due to a 0.2 percent decrease in RevPAR to GBP57.21 (EUR67.03) in February.

This was driven by a 1.7 percentage point drop in occupancy, a despite a two percentage point jump in achieved average room rate.

While hotels in the area achieved rate growth in leisure and group leisure, up 3.1 percent and 10 percent, respectively, the volume of both sectors fell.

Furthermore, thanks to a 2.1 percent year-on-year rise in food and beverage revenue, properties revealed a 0.3 percent growth in revenue.

Promising Start to the Year in Glasgow

Following two years of declining profit, addresses in Glasgow have recorded two consecutive months of profit growth.

Overall, the addition of some 880 keys to the market since 2014, 73 percent of which are within the budget segment, has put pressure on achieved average room rate in the 12 months to February, which stands at GBP81.20 (EUR95.18).

During the month under review, properties revealed a 7.7 percent year-on-year boost in RevPAR, alongside a 6.2 percent rise in profit per room in the first two months of the year to GBP20.83 (EUR24.42).

Meanwhile, in January and February, both payroll and overheads rose, up 4.7 percent and 3.8 percent, correspondingly.

In 2016, a 1.4 percent decline in total revenue combined with increased labour and overheads caused a 7.6 percent drop in profit per room at addresses in Vienna, when compared to 2015.

As a result of a whole host of events in the city, hotels in Nottingham achieved a 16.9 percent year-on-year boost in profit per room, driven by an 8.6 percent jump in achieved room rate. 

Overall, properties in Warsaw have welcomed a 15.4 percent jump in profit per room in November 2016, marking the second consecutive year of strong profit growth.