Meetings and travel management company Inntel is holding prices down for its clients despite a UK-wide surge in hotel rates fuelled by Brexit, it was revealed today.
UK average hotel prices have jumped to record highs, according to a new survey – but Inntel says it is negotiating deals 30% cheaper for its clients.
Room rates increased 5.7% nationally to hit a record of £131.21 in July, according to benchmarking service HotStats. In London, the average room rate rose 6.7% year-on-year to reach a high of £193.90.
However, Inntel’s results for July paint a very different picture – it achieved an average room rate across the board of £100.14. In London its average was £152.22. Both represent a saving of 23%.
And the company has actually driven prices down over the last year. Its average room rate for July 2017 was £102.74, while in London it was £156.08. This represents a year-on-year fall of 2.5%.
HotStats put the record high down to an uplift in staycations since the Brexit vote, as well as an increase in international visitors to the UK. Room occupancy was up by 1.7% to 87.1%. In London, room occupancy soared 4.7% to 92.1%.
Putting Inntel’s results into even sharper relief, the HotStats survey found that residential conference rates increased 11.9%.
Inntel CEO Douglas O’Neill said: “These figures show that we are managing the economic situation in the UK, specifically London, really well.”
“They demonstrate the advantages that organisations gain by using a Preferred Hotel Programme and a Strategic Meetings Management Programme, both with strategic sourcing: choosing hotels and conference venues and establishing preferred vendors offering pricing concessions in return for bulk bookings.
“Bringing together travel and meetings management as Inntel does increases control over booking behaviour. Combining spend means we can leverage better deals from hotels because we have more buying power. It’s a case of maximising value for our clients.”
