Edinburgh’s hotels suffer as weather and weak euro discourage visitors

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 13/07/2012 00:00

REVENUES and occupancy rates at Edinburgh’s three- and four-star hotels fell for the third month in a row during May, according to accountancy firm PKF’s monthly report.

Hotels in the Scottish capital have been squeezed by the weak euro, which means British holidaymakers are heading abroad, while foreigners find visiting the UK more expensive.

Occupancy fell 5.4 per cent and revenue was down 7.9 per cent, indicating continuing issues with the volume of tourists coming to the city, the firm said.

Alastair Rae, a partner at PKF, said: “Both occupancy and revenue fell at a fairly-high rate during May and this follows similar falls in March and April, making this a very difficult spring and potentially indicating a trend in the capital this year.

“This is unwelcome news for the sector in Edinburgh and increases its reliance on the late summer and autumn period. At that time the city runs flat out so a compensating improvement will be difficult to achieve, particularly as the city is beset with so many travel problems due to the trams and other roadworks.”

Other parts of Scotland are performing much better, with revenues in Aberdeen leaping 20.2 per cent and occupancy rising by 8.7 per cent as the rising oil price boost business travel.

Rae said: “Given the oil price has this week once more risen above $100 a barrel, it is likely this success will continue through the summer.”

Overall, Scotland out-performed the rest of the UK, with occupancy edging ahead by 0.6 per cent compared with falls in other parts of Britain and revenues increasing by 3.1 per cent.