Hotel rooms in the UK are coming on stream at the fastest rate for five years, according to the latest quarterly update from Hotel Bulletin.
Figures show numbers were up 40% on a year ago and as high as at any time since 2012, with 7,500 bedrooms opened in the first half of 2017.
The budget sector has seen a considerable rise in capacity but the independent, luxury and boutique sectors have also strong growth.
Much of the capacity increase is centred in London where a number of developments have opened or are due to including Soho House’s The Ned, a third Hoxton hotel in Shepherd’s Bush, a Raffles hotel in the Old War Office and a Peninsula hotel on Hyde Park Corner.
The boom in hotel openings comes as the weak pound is attracting increasing numbers of overseas visitors to the UK.