Average revenue-per-room in the city centre was up £3 in the city centre to £56.16  with an increase of£4 to £82.68 at the weekends, latest figures from the LEP show. Tony McDonough.

Hotel occupancy in Liverpool city centre remained steady at 77% in in 2016 – with a rise in the revenue-per-room (RevPar).

Latest figures from North West Research & Strategy – a team based at the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, show weekend occupancy rate at 88% in 2016, also comparable to 2015.

Weekday occupancy also remained steady at 75% and the best news was in the RevPar figure which was up £3 in the city centre to £56.16.

The average weekend RevPar for the city centre was £82.68, an increase of approximately £4 since 2015.

The 2016 figures were positive for the hotel sector in the city as 2015 had been such a bumper year – particularly during the Three Queens spectacular – part of Cunard’s 175th birthday celebrations.

Statistics for December also show that hotel occupancy in the city was up 7% on the previous year.

Across the wider city region as a whole, room occupancy has increased by 2% since 2015, to 78%.

Average weekend occupancy increased by 2% to 87% overall for 2016, whilst weekday occupancy rose by 2% from 76% to 78%.

Steve Sherlock, research & business development manager at North West Research & Strategy said:

“The growth in hotel occupancy we have seen across the city region in 2016 continues to illustrate our attractiveness to staying visitors.

“With the recent decline in the value of sterling against the euro and the dollar, more and more people are considering domestic breaks as an option that offers greater value for money while seeking a broad range of activities and events.”

Other key facts include:

• Tourism was worth more than £4bn a year to the Liverpool city region in 2015 – a 7% increase on the previous year’s figure of £3.8bn and for Liverpool alone that figure soared 8% from £2.53bn to £2.72bn over the same period.
• In the last year, the city region welcomed 56.5m day visitors during the year with the number of staying visitors breaking through the 5m barrier.
• The visitor economy also provides a jobs boost with the sector now supporting more than 50,000 jobs across Merseyside – a rise of 4%.