The luxury hotel industry is growing rapidly in London, as it stands as one of the fastest-growing destinations in the world for this higher level of luxury. While New York remains the top global destination for luxury hospitality, the World Luxury Index report on hotels shows that London, Dubai and Paris are the destinations which are growing their luxury hotel markets the quickest.
In fact, in 2013 alone London’s luxury hotel market grew by almost 12 per cent. Generally, luxury hotels can be split into three categories: upper upscale, luxury major integrated chain and luxury exclusive.
Upper upscale tend to be the most sought after, but the majority of luxury hotels are considered luxury exclusive. The extreme growth of the market is down to the UK consumer. More and more people are booking holidays in this country, but they want luxury. Instead of booking an extravagant holiday abroad, people are now much more inclined to book a series of short weekend breaks; and where better to visit than the capital city?
You can now do just about anything that you could dream up in London, so people are doing just that. They want to do it in style though, and are now more willing than ever to pay for this. UK consumers are partly responsible for a 1.5 per cent increase in global interest in luxury hotels. Of the number of people who searched for a luxury hotel in 2013, 13.3 per cent were from the UK – a jump of 8.4 per cent. This doesn’t yet match the US, who account for 66.3 per cent of those seeking out luxury hospitality. However, it does indicate a growing trend for luxury in the UK.
