Armstrong Watson survey reflects positive year for Lake District hotels

Hotels and guest accommodation in the Lake District have had a fantastic summer and autumn 2013, according to a new survey by Armstrong Watson.

Richard Andrew, Manager at the Kendal office said “It’s great to see hotels having a good year, it will help the hospitality sector to bounce back after a largely disappointing 2012. The average rate charged per room continues to be strong at £97 per room and hotels were 81% occupied throughout September. These are really positive signs for this sector.” 

There are challenging times ahead however as the Lake District hospitality sector faces increasing pressure to go green in order to attract guests who are increasingly demanding that their hotel of choice is not costing the earth. Just 5% of hotel energy usage in the UK comes from bioenergy and waste. The amount of energy the hotel sector uses derived from bioenergy and waste risen by an impressive 18.8% from 2011 to 2012. [Source: Energy Consumption in the UK (2013) Department of Energy and Climate Change]

Richard added “Energy bills accounted for 4% of turnover of respondents, a figure that is set to increase as we all face soaring energy bills, adding further weight to many hotels plans to invest in renewable energy sources in the next 12 months. One of the main drawbacks is financing the installation of renewable sources of energy, yet on average hotels in the area will invest £64,000 in the next twelve months. This is a huge investment for any business, signifying the importance of the issue to hoteliers in the Lakes.”

A free copy of the survey can be found here.