Millennium Eve wasn’t the flop for hoteliers that it was expected to be, according to a TRI Hospitality Consulting survey.
Almost 70% of hoteliers worked on Millennium Eve with 60% of those saying it was a commercial success. Staffing wasn’t a problem and only 2.8% of those surveyed said customer satisfaction was low.
TRI director David Bailey said: “The results show that it didn’t do any harm to stay open in terms of the hoteliers’ branding or market perception, nor did it harm profits.”
Three-quarters of hoteliers have a positive outlook for the next quarter, a change from the same time last year when only 38% expressed optimism.
In 1999, seven out of 10 hoteliers were ahead in total revenue compared to 1998. Room occupancy results were mixed with almost half saying occupancy was higher and 37% saying it was lower. A business confidence survey showed 70% achieved higher room rates in 1999 compared to 1998 and 38% said they will raise rates in the next three months. Although tariffs aren’t expected to rise more than 5%, TRI said this shows a confident but cautious approach for this year.
A cross-section of 100 hoteliers in the UK mainstream hotel market participated in the bi-annual survey.