BHA’s Trends and Statistics, 2007 will be published shortly and shows that Britain’s hotel industry is on a roll.

Over 100 new hotels have opened every year since 2001 with an annual investment of £3bn, with a similar number planned for the next five years; overseas visitor numbers are back on the increase after the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis; London hotels are achieving near record occupancies; the 2012 Olympic Games will boost overseas earnings by £2.1bn, the government predicts.

But look a bit closer, however, and there are some contrary trends.

More and more British holidaymakers are going abroad, leading to a record £19bn imbalance on the UK travel account (estimated to be £28.4bn by 2012).

The number of long domestic holidays has dropped by 10 per cent in 2006 on 2005 with expenditure down by nearly four per cent; short holiday numbers declined by seven per cent with expenditure down by 8 per cent. Even business travel had a poor year in 2006. So it may not be such a surprise that over 200 hotels in Blackpool are up for sale, with few purchasers.

All these trends are plain to see in this year’s publication British Hospitality: Trends and Statistics 2007* which brings together key information from various sources as well as much original research into hotel property deals during the year.

It’s a picture that shows London is roaring away with average occupancy in 2006 at over 80 per cent (and currently rising), with the prospect of the Olympic Games on the horizon. But it’s a different picture in the provinces. Occupancy moved slightly ahead but results for this summer, with its miserable weather, will probably not be encouraging.

Yet, while principal towns and cities are experiencing considerable hotel expansion (Manchester, for example, will see three 200-plus room hotels opening this year, with three more opening in 2008) new resort hotels are almost non-existent. New country house hotels – which boomed in the 1980s-90s – are also in short supply; this year, only the exceptional Luton Hoo has opened after a £60m refit.

The industry can’t be criticised for its huge investment in new hotels but it’s understandable that one of the aims of the government’s 2012 tourism strategy is to encourage more existing hotels to improve and upgrade. The apparent reluctance to do so is, perhaps, reflected in the number of hotels joining the harmonised registration and grading scheme which is far fewer than it could be or should be. The target is 80 per cent but it’s doubtful if more than 50 per cent are in the scheme at present.

For an industry that lacks many of the key facts and figures that it needs, the BHA has been extremely successful in its various triumphs (seeing off the bed tax, ensuring the smoking ban is nation-wide, new regulations of the tronc and service charge). But we need more figures to be able to argue our case to government. We just don’t have enough of them.

At least, Trends and Statistics gathers together what information we do have, revealing a buoyant industry - but one with plenty of challenges ahead.

*available, free of charge to members; please ring Bob Bacon (0207 404 7744) for the published version or a PDF.