Scottish hotels outperform rest of UK
The latest study by accountants and business advisers BDO LLP found Scottish hotel occupancy was 74.2% compared with 72.7% in the rest of the UK.
Alastair Rae, a partner in the property, leisure and hospitality sector at BDO, said: “The hospitality sector in Scotland continued to outperform the rest of the UK as the year drew to a close. Whilst occupancy overall was largely in line with the rest of the UK, it was in revenue that Scotland continues to outshine its neighbours.”
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Hide AdRooms yield, the industry term for revenue and a standard measure of performance, in Scotland was £52.73 compared to £45.14 in regional UK.
During November, the Aberdeen revenue was considerably more than in any other part of the UK, with a 17.8% increase to £78.83, and higher than the revenue for tourist rates in London hotels.
Occupancy was also highest in Aberdeen at 81.2%, closely followed by Glasgow at 81.1%.
Mr Rae said: “Aberdeen continues to operate in something of a bubble compared to the rest of the UK as the oil sector boosts hotel business. An indication that this boom in Aberdeen is business rather than leisure oriented.”
He added: “Aberdeen held the Movement and Dispersal International Conference during the month, although it did have some leisure based revenue from the Stereophonics concert in the city.
“In Edinburgh it was, perhaps, simply business as usual with the Scottish capital retaining high occupancy and revenue as the start of its Christmas festivities began at the end of November. Glasgow sacrificed some revenue to maintain occupancy during the month as revenue dipped 7.3%.”
Mr Rae concluded there are continued signs that the hospitality sector is “improving” in line with the increasing optimism in the wider economy.
The hotel trends survey has been published since the early 1970s and features a broad range of hotels in the three to four star star categories.