The UK hotel sector benefitted from a bumper July, boosted by the Oasis reunion, with occupancy, room rates and profits all exceeding the previous year for the first time in eight months, according to RSM.
The data shows that the occupancy of London hotels hit a six-year high of 89.9% in July, up from 89.2% the previous year, and increased from 85% to 86.2% in the UK.
Furthermore, average daily rates (ADR) of occupied rooms in London jumped from £263.85 to £271.52 in July year-on-year, and rose from £180.36 to £184.34 in the UK.
Meanwhile, gross operating profits also ticked up slightly from 49.4% in July 2024 to 49.6% in July 2025 in London and from 44.2% to 44.5% in the UK.
Chris Tate, partner and head of hotels at RSM UK, said: “It was a bumper July for the hotel sector, not only did it see its usual influx of overseas visitors, but the Oasis reunion provided an added boost. In fact, occupancy in London hit a six-year high, which is close to maximum capacity when factoring in turnover days between guests.
“This meant hoteliers could charge slightly higher room rates, which they’ve struggled to do in previous months, due to the risk of impacting demand. Gross operating profits also benefitted from a slight improvement on the previous year, with higher room rates providing some relief from the various cost pressures hitting the sector.”
Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK, added: “The improvement in the hotel sector in July chimes with other data, such as the jump in the PMI in August and rising consumer confidence, which suggests the UK services sector is leading the economic recovery. Admittedly, there are some gathering headwinds.
“Rising inflation combined with a looser labour market will mean weaker real pay growth. It now looks unlikely that there will be another interest rate cut this year and speculation about rising taxes in the Autumn Budget will dent confidence. However, household incomes have risen sharply since the pandemic and savings levels are high. The key variable is going to be how consumer confidence holds up in the run up to the budget.”
