Catering Scotland

Scottish hotels continue to have higher occupancy and revenue levels than the rest of the UK, according to the latest report by accountants PKF. The firm’s monthly hotel survey found that occupancy rose by 4.1% in January compared with an increase of 2.5% in regional UK. However, there are signs that the market was static during January and these occupancy increases were the result of almost universal discounting which resulted in revenues falling in all parts of the UK, including a reduction of 1.1% in Scotland.

There were also further signs that the performance of Scotland’s hospitality sector is dividing, with the central belt suffering and the north doing relatively well. Aberdeen, in particular, continues to benefit from a high oil price which is driving strong occupancy coupled with very strong revenue growth. The result is that occupancy rose 10.9% and revenue increased by 18.7% in January. Meanwhile, in Inverness, there was a 16.6% increase in occupancy and a 2.4% rise in revenue.

Alastair Rae, a partner in the Real Estate and Hospitality sector at PKF, said: ‘January is never a particularly good time of the year for the hotel sector and these figures prove this to be the case. However, both Aberdeen and Inverness continue to outperform general trends.

‘The oil industry is undoubtedly contributing greatly to the sector’s buoyancy in Aberdeen, while improved tourism and ‘staycationing’ will have played its part in Inverness.’