London witnessed the most significant rise, with occupancy levels up by five percent on the same period last year. The average room rate in London for the first half of the year reached £105, £7 higher than last year. RevPAR reached £86 in the first half of the year, an increase of 13 percent compared with £76 in 2003.

Marvin Rust, hospitality managing partner at Deloitte says:  �London�s resurgence in both leisure and corporate travel is set to continue. According to our forecasts, we expect hotel performance to exceed previous highs from London 2000/01 figures by the end of 2005.  This is a realistic recovery after several years of adversity for the travel industry.�

Other main findings

• Business travel has boosted corporate hotel rates in the first half of the year with average room rates rising £17 � a ten percent increase on 2003 figures.
• Regional hotel occupancy levels continue to improve, with revPAR rising to £47, an eight percent increase on 2003.

Deloitte & Touche LLP is the UK's fastest growing major professional services firm based in 21 UK locations, with over 10,000 staff nationwide and fee income of £1,228 million in 2002/2003.