Birmingham hoteliers continued to struggle through the late summer, according to PKF Hotel Consultancy Services.

New figures from PKF show that during August, occupancy, room rate and rooms yield were all down,

Of the 1,700 available rooms surveyed in the city, occupancy was down 4.7 per cent to 54.1 per cent compared with August 2008. For the year to date, the figure was down 8.8 per cent to 63.0 per cent.

Average achieved room rate was down 21.6 per cent to £51.24 compared with August 2008. For the year to date, it was down 10.5 per cent to £65.21.

Rooms yield was down 25.3 per cent compared with August 2008 and year to date, it was down 18.4 per cent to £41.08.

Room occupancy is the ratio of total occupied rooms to total available rooms. Average achieved room rate is the rooms revenue divided by the total number of guest rooms occupied during the year. Rooms yield is room occupancy multiplied by the average achieved room rate.

Robert Barnard, partner for Hotel Consultancy Services at PKF, said: "This year was always going to be a tough one for hoteliers and therefore these figures are not hugely surprising.

"It is heartening to see that occupancy rates are creeping back up in many of the cities - Edinburgh in particular had an astonishing month achieving 91.7 per cent occupancy - and Liverpool managing a 6.1 per cent increase was particularly impressive given that the 2008 figures were already boosted as a result of the city's status as European Capital of Culture. On the flip side, this explains why Liverpool's room rate is down so dramatically.

"But, ultimately, if hoteliers can continue to draw in visitors, they will be in a better position to slowly increase room rate as soon as the economic situation allows them to."

Ian Taylor, Marketing Birmingham's commercial director, said that the agency's own research found that there were in good reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for city's hotel sector.

He added: "The city's hoteliers are starting to successfully adapt to market conditions in their pricing, and the indications that the immediate future for the city's hotels is starting to improve. We've found that forward bookings in August rose to 13 per cent, compared with just eight per cent in the same month in 2008. It shows that far more overnight visitors are now planning to come to Birmingham."