London hotels revenue per available room (RevPar) was down only 5 per cent in July compared with 2004 figures, according to the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte.

Commenting on the month’s results, Marvin Rust, Managing Partner of Hospitality at Deloitte, said: “Critically, data for the last week of July showed that hoteliers had not cut rates in response to the bombings. In fact, rates increased by 6 per cent, consistent with our expectation that the terrorist attacks would have a relatively short term effect on the London market.

“Weekend occupancy levels are proving the slowest to recover, with figures down by 11 per cent last weekend (29/30 July). Rate increases of 3.5 per cent mitigated the overall impact of this drop.

“There is a misconception that the tourism industry is most vulnerable to terrorist attacks. In reality GDP and exchange rates have a far greater impact on the industry. These results demonstrate the resilience of the London market and the continuing attraction of the city to visitors. Our clients are reporting very few cancellations and this is supported by London hotels financial results for the month,” Rust adds.

Ends

The HotelBenchmark Survey contains the largest independent source of hotel performance data outside of North America and tracks the performance of over 6,500 hotels and 1.2 million rooms every month. Monthly surveys are produced on the following areas:

• Four regional rate and occupancy surveys covering Asia-Pacific, Europe, Central & South America and the Middle East & Africa.
• 12 country/sub region rate and occupancy surveys for Australia, Benelux, China, Germany, Italy, India, New Zealand, Nordic Countries, Qatar, Southern Africa, Spain and UK.
• Two city rate and occupancy surveys for London and Paris.
• Monthly profitability surveys on Germany and London.
• On an annual basis we produce profitability surveys tracking performance across all regions of the world.
• Daily HotelBenchmark tracks rate and occupancy everyday for a number markets across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Coverage is building rapidly since launch in early 2005.

For further information or details on how to join the survey please call us on +44 (0) 20 7007 3974 or visit us at www.HotelBenchmark.com

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte & Touche LLP.

Deloitte & Touche LLP is based in 21 UK locations, with over 9,500 staff nationwide and fee income of £1,355 million in 2004/2005. It is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a leading professional services organisation, delivering world class audit, tax, consulting and corporate finance services, with around 120,000 people in over 140 countries. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein, and each of its national practices is a separate and independent legal entity.

Deloitte & Touche LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.