Fuller hotels in Capital hint at better times

Published on Saturday 4 July 2009 11:20

THE percentage of hotel rooms in the Capital that are in use has increased on last year for a second consecutive month.

In the month to the end of May, occupancy increased by 2.3 per cent to 81.3 per cent.

It follows a 6 per cent rise in April compared to April 2008.

Edinburgh's rise was better than the Scottish average, which rose 0.6 per cent to 75.7 per cent but lower than Glasgow, which surged 2.9 per cent to 78.1 per cent.

UK hotel occupancy declined by 5.5 per cent to 69.9 per cent.

Alastair Rae, a partner in the real estate and hospitality sector at PKF, said: "Scotland seems to be outperforming the rest of the UK during these very difficult times.

"Edinburgh has now had two months of positive occupancy figures and a reasonable degree of stability in rooms yield, which might be an early indication that this could be a reasonably good tourism year for the capital."