Investor demand for hotels in the tourist hotspots and national parks of the south coast sparked a recovery in the transactional hotel market, which has now returned to pre-covid levels of activity, according to Christie & Co regional director of hospitality south Ed Bellfield.

Christie & Co comfortably leads in the Radius On Demand Rankings for investment sales in the hotel and leisure sector, with almost £70m of sales across 43 deals for the UK as a whole. It also leads the sector's investment rankings in both the South West and South East.

Bellfield says the transactional market for hotels ground to a half in mid-2020 but recovery came first to the tourist destinations on the south coast – where visitor numbers were bolstered by city dwellers looking to escape their urban environments - before spreading to the larger towns and cities. He also says there is a healthy development pipeline for new hotels, with environmental performance now a critical factor.