BOOKINGS SURGE AT STAYCITY AS UK’S RECOVERY ROADMAP IS REVEALED
Publish date: Thu 25 Feb, 2021Aparthotel operator Staycity has seen UK bookings surge this week on the back of the Government’s recovery roadmap, announced on Monday.
Bookings for the group’s 11 UK properties rose 333% in the 24-hours after the announcement, compared with the previous week, with £312,000-worth of business taken on Tuesday [23rd Feb] alone. London, Birmingham and Manchester proved the most popular destinations.
Staycity co-founder and CEO Tom Walsh said the surge in demand was “exciting news” for Staycity, which suffered earlier than most from the impact of the pandemic with its property in York being at the centre of the first outbreak in the UK back in February 2020.
“This demonstrates the pent-up demand for travel and the fact guests are keen to book trips and to have something to look forward to. It’s a huge relief to us, and the hospitality industry as a whole, to have this clear evidence that people are keen to make up for lost time – and also that they have confidence in the stringent hygiene protocols the industry has put in place.”
Hotels are expected to re-open on 17th May, according to the UK Government’s roadmap for recovery.
At the end of last year Staycity announced a €70m debt and equity refinancing ensuring the privately-owned company was fully capitalised post-pandemic, and ready to continue with its European plans to almost double its size over the next 18 months and to operate 15,000 keys by 2026/2027.
This year Staycity will open nine properties across Europe, with a further six in 2022 including sites in Manchester, Dublin, Bordeaux, Paris, London and Frankfurt.
Said Walsh: “It’s been a difficult 12 months for the hotel sector, but it seems that at last we can look forward to some light at the end of the tunnel. Aparthotels, with their well-equipped self-catering facilities, will prove a popular choice for travellers going forward and the bookings we have seen this week is welcome evidence of this.”
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Linda Pettit, Tilburstow Media Partners,
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About Staycity
Award-winning Staycity Group is a privately held company based in Dublin established in 2004 by CEO Tom Walsh and his brother Ger. The company has since become Europe’s leading independent aparthotel operator, offering quality short-term and long-term aparthotel lettings in 12 central city locations across Europe and the UK under the Staycity Aparthotels and Wilde Aparthotels by Staycity brands.
In 2019 the company’s turnover grew 14% to €78m, with EBITDA rising around 11% and like-for-like occupancy of 87% and the company’s strongest ever guest satisfaction scores. Until the coronavirus pandemic the company was on target to deliver revenues of €100m in 2020, along with continued profit growth.
The company’s fast-expanding estate includes properties in Berlin, Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Lyon, Manchester, Marseille, Paris, Paris Marne-la-Vallée (five minutes from Disneyland), Venice Mestre, and York. www.staycity.com