The UK’s largest budget hotel chain Premier Inn saw first quarter sales rise by more than 14%, parent company Whitbread reported today.
Total revenue per available room (revpar) rose by 8.8% and total room nights sold increased by 11.2% to four million.
Total occupancy was 80.7%, up 4.2% percentage points on the same period last year and the number of rooms available increased by 5.5%.
More than 200 rooms were opened in the quarter as the company plans to open around 4,500 this year. Premier Inn currently offers 55,242 rooms in the UK and plans to expand to around 75,000 by 2018.
Whitbread chief executive Andy Harrison said Premier Inn had benefited from a buoyant hotel market driven by continuing growth in London and “clearer signs of economic recovery” in the UK regions.
“We currently have 43 new Premier Inn hotels under construction in the UK and expect to open around 4,500 new rooms this year, together with five joint site restaurants,” he said.
Premier Inn sales in London grew by 10.4% in the quarter with a 7.6% increase in the number of rooms available.
Revpar grew by 3.6% with occupancy remaining high at 86.1%.
Sales in the regions was up by 15.3%, with a 5.2% increase in the number of rooms available. The total revpar was up 9.9% with occupancy at 80%, up 4.9% percentage points.