British hotel group Whitbread reiterated its annual forecast on Tuesday after the firm, the owner of Premier Inn, posted a dip in first-quarter room revenue in the UK as weekend bookings were slightly lower.
The firm reported a 2% fall in revenue per available room (RevPAR) or room revenue - an important metric for the hospitality industry - for the 13-week period ended May 30.
'Normalised Levels'
'While midweek business demand and peak leisure demand remained robust, weekend demand at short-lead was slightly softer, particularly in London, reflecting a return to more normalised levels after what was a very strong performance last year,' the company said.
The group, which also owns restaurant and pub chains such as Beefeater and Bar+Block Steakhouse, said its advance booking numbers were positive as it heads into the peak summer trading season.
It did not mention further details on advance bookings.
European Football Championship
Sporting events such as the European Football Championship, or the Euros, in Germany, the Olympics in Paris, and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Europe and the UK are all expected to boost travel demand this summer.
Separately, Whitbread in April laid out plans to close underperforming branded restaurants that would lead to 1,500 job cuts, and said it intends to turn some of those restaurants to hotel rooms.
Earlier this year, the group said its German business was on course to break-even on a run-rate basis in calendar year 2024, while it expected gross capital expenditure in the fiscal year to be between £550 million (€650.4 million) and £600 million (€710 million).
