Hotels beat credit crunch price crash
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to slash prices by almost a third as competition for a dwindling number of guests has driven down prices. But the enduring appeal of Newquay appears to have helped hotels buck the downward trend.Trade website www.hotels.com stated that in the face of a general price drop of up to 32% in some cities across the UK, just Newquay and Oxford have kept hotel tariffs at the same level as before the slump.
Veryan Armstrong, sales and marketing manager for the Headland Hotel, said that 2010 had been a "fantastic" year so far.
She said: "Our average room rates are up by £17, which is unheard of at the moment. Admittedly, January was fairly slow, but we have been full for the past two weekends and we are looking forward to a very successful Summer.
"People seem to want to pay for luxury nowadays. They come to us because they are prepared to pay that extra to ensure that they have themselves a great stay."
Pete Butterly, general manager at the Sandy Lodge Hotel, echoes the Headland's sentiments about its fees remaining the same, but stated that one of the reasons for this is because they "couldn't afford to do it any cheaper."
Mr Butterly said: "Our private tariff has not been increased in the last year, and has remained the same for the last two. We usually look to increase it each year to keep up with inflation, but inflation has remained pretty stable.
"There is quite a shortage of hotels here in Newquay at the moment, so there's less competition here right now.
"We have had a slow start to the year, but the Summer bookings are coming in and I am pretty positive that we could be looking forward to a good season."
Glendorgal Hotel manager Brock said that, rather than the credit crunch casting a gloom across the tourist industry, for some UK hotels it has in fact been a blessing.
Commenting on the fact that Newquay and Oxford are the only UK holiday destinations to have maintained steady hotel fees, Brock said: "I was not aware of this, but it comes as no surprise to me.
"Our trade has done nothing but grow in the past couple of seasons and that's what we are expecting to do again. We have just continued to give great value to the customers, and kept up the quality of our service.
"More people are staying here in the country because of the current economic situation. We have a real influx of both European and British tourists coming to stay, and because of this the economy as it stands is actually better for the local trade.
"We have not had to drop our fees, but nor have we raised them. We have remained consistent, and we are looking forward to another great Summer."
