Bath is preparing for a busy Jane Austen Festival, with holiday accommodation approaching capacity as visitors from around the world descend on the city for this year’s event.
The festival runs from 11 to 20 September, and short-term rental accommodation managed by Pass the Keys is reporting around 92 per cent occupancy across the two festival weekends.
The wider Bath holiday-let market is also seeing strong demand, with figures from revenue management platform PriceLabs putting occupancy at around 80 per cent across the two weekends.
The festival celebrates the life and work of Jane Austen, who lived in Bath during the early 19th century and used the city as a setting in both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
This year’s event follows last year’s celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth, which brought renewed international attention to her connection with Bath.
According to Pass the Keys, some visitors have been booking accommodation up to a year in advance, while around 75 per cent of its festival bookings are from international visitors.
The figures suggest the festival continues to attract visitors well beyond the UK, with Austen enthusiasts travelling to Bath to experience the city associated with one of Britain’s best-known authors.
Chris Hardwicke, owner of the Pass the Keys franchise in Bath, said the demand had exceeded expectations following last year’s anniversary celebrations.
“The Jane Austen Festival is a huge cultural phenomenon for Bath,” he said.
“After last year’s 250th anniversary, we were concerned that this year’s event might feel smaller, but if anything, the buzz has grown.
“We’ve seen guests securing their stays as much as a year ahead, and with around three quarters of bookings coming from overseas visitors, it’s clear that the festival continues to have a real pull.”
The Jane Austen Festival features a programme of events celebrating Austen’s work and her links with Bath, with visitors expected to fill the city’s historic streets during the ten-day festival.
The strong accommodation demand is particularly notable against a backdrop of shorter booking lead times elsewhere in the short-term rental market, according to Pass the Keys.
With festival accommodation already heavily booked, visitors planning to attend this year’s event may find that leaving their arrangements until the last minute is not the best strategy.
