Hotel bookings continue to grow in anticipation of Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Late last year, STR’s initial analysis of the upcoming Commonwealth Games showed the early event impact on hotel occupancy on the books and pickup in Birmingham, England. This latest update with Forward STAR data shows an even further uptake in hotel booking levels now four months out from the arrival of the games.

The Commonwealth Games, a multi-national sporting event which brings together athletes from 72 nations, will take place throughout the city of Birmingham between 28 July and 8 August 2022 with large crowds of spectators, athletes and event staff expected. Since the previous event impact analysis, the backdrop for travel and large gatherings has improved further with better pandemic metrics and the lifting of many restrictions.

Along with the event drawing nearer, that improvement in sentiment supports the higher levels shown in this forward-looking data analysis. STR is uniquely positioned to combine both historical and forward-looking data for major hotel markets around the globe. Thus, this analysis also looks back at the performance of the previous U.K. host of the Commonwealth Games, Glasgow (2014). That historical data supports the expectation for even further advancement in Birmingham’s hotel occupancy as the months progress. 

Occupancy & Pickup continue to rise

The Birmingham Centre submarket, as defined by STR, shows positive short-term bookings trends for the coming months with particularly strong levels on weekends. Occupancy on the books reaches as high as 47% through June. The submarket’s positive outlook for Spring and early-Summer reaches the next level in July and August, however, when occupancy on the books peaks at 78% (6 August). In the previous analysis back in October, the peak for the event period was just 55%.

When pickup, the uptake in booking from one period to the next, was previously examined, levels were steady at better than 6% for the period of the games. The weeks leading up to the opening ceremony also showed levels as high as 15%. However, the most recent forward-looking data indicates that pickup for the games is slightly lower with the peak for this period sitting at 5%. This is somewhat to be expected as large uptakes in bookings are most common upon the initial announcement of events or as the start of the event becomes imminent.

Glasgow 2014

The 2022 games will be the first in the U.K. since 2014, when Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, played host. STR’s historical data offers insight into the city’s performance in the leadup and days of the games. Once the competition commenced, occupancy levels peaked at 98% and didn’t drop below 93% while the games were in progress. Glasgow also performed strongly in the leadup with occupancy sitting at 79% a month out from the closing ceremony. 

Conclusion

In STR’s previous analysis, it was clear that this mega-event would have a significant impact on occupancy levels. Despite more recent disruptions in the travel sector, such as the emergence of Omicron in early 2022, demand has continued to grow. Although overall leisure demand is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels for quite some time, the current trajectory supports that Birmingham Centre will come close to the occupancy levels experienced by Glasgow in 2014. This of course assumes no new significant disruptions in travel, such as the war in Ukraine, which has yet to affect hotel performance.