Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has launched a new report, The UK Hotel Market: New challenges on the road to recovery, providing a snapshot of the UK hotel market in 2022, as it emerges from the pandemic and faces a new wave of economic and operational challenges.

The snapshot suggests that the UK hotel market proved resilient throughout the pandemic and has recovered at a faster rate than first anticipated since January 2022, with overall performance nearing or surpassing 2019 levels since May 2022. However, the coming months may prove more challenging for the sector due to the cost-of-living crisis, weakened GDP, and increasing inflation rates.

The report analyses the performance and outlook for the UK’s top 10 cities, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, Bristol and Newcastle.
Regional UK markets such as Edinburgh, Birmingham and Liverpool saw the highest increase in RevPAR in H1 2022, surpassing 2019 levels by 6.9%, 8.5% and 7.5% respectively. In comparison, London has been slower to recover as the capital relies on international source markets and business travellers.

Since January, operators have maintained high ADRs in order to balance some of the increasing cost pressures. The success of this strategy has been made possible by a change in consumer behaviour in the face of rising costs, with holiday spending being prioritised.