With just over three months to go, it is still unclear whether the great British public is prepared to pay out for the pleasure of seeing in the new millennium in a UK hotel.
Undoubtedly, there is a market for prestige hotels. The Savoy group, which has two-night millennium breaks costing up to £10,000 per person, reports its hotels are 60% sold to date. But the position with regard to the mid-range properties which make up the bulk of short-break programmes is still somewhat confusing.
Many of the hotels featured in brochures on sale through the trade have opted to close over the Christmas and New Year period because they cannot guarantee they will have enough staff.
Even if they could find people prepared to work, hoteliers are worried that they will not be able to afford to pay the inflated rates being asked.
The result is that short-break operators say they have very limited stock. Jetset reports that only 10% of the 300 or so hotels featured in its UK programme are offering rooms on New Year’s Eve, while most of the hotels in the Sunvil UK brochure are closing.
Some of the hotels which have chosen to stay open have put together festive packages which come with hefty price tags.
“Some of the rates which are being quoted by hotels now are outrageous,” said Crystal Premier Britain programme director Simon Box, who is predicting that many hoteliers will be left with unsold rooms. “I suspect there will be plenty of late availability and discounting,” he added.
One hotel chain which is admitting that it will be coming to the trade at the eleventh hour is Best Western. The independent hotel marketing consortium usually produces a Christmas and New Year brochure, but this year has chosen to distribute only Christmas breaks through agents. Member hotels which have put together millennium packages are marketing them direct to the public.
Best Western head of leisure marketing Jennie Brookes explained the decision to bypass the trade at this stage was taken because availability was so limited. She added: “If we have availability at the end of the year, we will go to the trade with offers.”
Jetset head of marketing Roddy McPhee believes horror stories about inflated prices over the millennium period has dampened demand, but he predicts New Year business should pick up next month.
Superbreak sales director Ian Mounser is not expecting a New Year bonanza. “There has been a lot of hype about the millennium, but the market for it is not as big as people first thought. My own view is that Christmas breaks will sell particularly well.”