York experiences increased visitor and investor interest in 2009
2009 has been the year of the staycation, the credit crunch has opened our eyes to the holiday opportunities available right on our doorsteps. There have been some clear winners in the UK holiday bookings stakes, the south-west coast for one but the north of England has also proved a hotspot.
According to hostelworld.com, who have recently released figures showing where people chose to stay this summer, York made the top 10 for percentage increases in visitor bookings. The historic north Yorkshire city experienced a 70% increase in bookings sharing its joint 5th position with two southern favourites, the famous spa town of Bath and coastal delight Brighton.
Adding to the north Yorkshire appeal, many staycationers opt for the countryside when deciding on their UK holiday destination, after all three quarters of the UK population live and work in urban areas. The affects for hotels is obvious – bumper bookings. Investors today are looking for their piece of the tourism pie and they are opting for stable property markets as their first choice.
In the north Yorkshire countryside nestled between York and Harrogate, lies Flaxby, the home to a new 5 star 303 bedroom hotel, golf and spa resort. From £199,950 for a double hotel room investors can own a piece of this luxury resort and cash in on the guaranteed 39% NET rental return for the first 3 years followed by receiving 50% of the revenue generated (forecast at over 13% gross yield) after the initial first 3 year guarantee is over. With bookings being up in York by 70% alone, this is sure to be a honeypot for tourists.
According to the Halifax’s rural house price index, over the past year rural house prices have not fallen as much as urban properties with the average rural house price sitting 20% higher than urban areas. Interestingly outside of the south the rural area with the highest average property price is in Craven, north Yorkshire, a mere 30 miles from Flaxby. Here a property will set you back over a quarter of a million, £253,141. So for under £200,000 investors today can purchase their own piece of buzzing Yorkshire in the form of a hassle free, fully managed hotel development with guaranteed rentals.
The Flaxby Golf & Country Club will have 5 star facilities suitable for the discerning leisure visitor, VIPs and business users too including a 27 hole golf course, state of the art conferencing facilities and a first class spa facility, as well as a range of leisure facilities and activities. Its service levels will equal those of Park Lane Hotels and the names behind the brand include Michael Vaughan as Head of Corporate Leisure and Elemis operating the Spa facilities.
For more information please contact Experience International on 0208 321 5858 or visit www.experience-international.com.