London hotels have seen a good start to the year according to figures released by Hotstats, a monthly survey conducted by TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Revenue per available room (revpar) in London grew by 13.5 per cent in the first three months of the year, with March being particularly strong, showing revpar growth of 23.1 per cent.

The revpar growth for the start of the year has been driven mainly by a 4.8 per cent increase in average room rates and occupancy levels rising 5.8 per cent to 76.3 per cent.

Occupancy in March hit 80.5 per cent, more than a 10 per cent increase year on year.

Provincial hotels saw growth of 4.9 per cent in revpar.

Jonathan Langston, managing director of TRI, said: “This is the clearest signal yet that the industry is now on a recovery path, ending the challenging environment of the last three years.”

The results follow figures from VisitBritain showing that 3.5 million people visited the UK in January and February, a 10 per cent rise year on year, and the British Incoming Tour Operators Association showed arrivals in the UK were up 1.3 per cent in January and 2.2 per cent in February.