Scottish hotels outperform rest of the UK

HOTEL occupancy and revenue in Scotland outperformed the rest of the United Kingdom in June, but the sector still has "some way to go" to return to pre-recession levels.

A monthly overview showed that occupancy levels rose by 2.8 per cent to 83 per cent when compared with the same period last year.

Other parts of the UK recorded larger percentage increases but, despite that, occupancy in England stood at almost 78 per cent, while in Wales the figure was 80 per cent.

"Rooms yield", the industry measure of revenue, rose 5.1 per cent to 63.41 in Scotland. The figure was 48.48 in England and 49.27 in Wales.

The figures were contained in the latest report by accountants and business advisers PKF.

Alastair Rae, a partner in the organisation's real estate and hospitality sector, said: "Occupancy and revenue figures are healthy for most parts of Scotland and the trend indicates that 2011 will be a return to positive growth for the sector."