Flat October for Glasgow and Edinburgh, Aberdeen continues decline

Performance in October was flat for hotels in Scotland’s two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh, while decline for Aberdeen hoteliers accelerated.

That is according to the latest LJ Forecaster Scottish Intercity Report, which found Edinburgh and Glasgow benefitted from strong levels of demand for accommodation during the month as average hotel occupancy in each city reached 88%.

This represented a small increase on last year for both cities, and for Glasgow equated to the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year occupancy growth.

Aberdeen continued its trend of falling occupancy with hotels selling just 66% of their rooms during the month, compared with 77% last year – this was a decrease of nearly 15% and the 11th consecutive month of negative occupancy growth.

Average room rate (ARR) was highest in Edinburgh at £94.91, compared with £94.98 last year, and lowest in Glasgow at £74.58, compared with £75.18 last year. Meanwhile, in Aberdeen ARR was £74.94 – 26% below last year’s rate of £101.02.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up slightly compared with last year for Edinburgh and Glasgow, however Aberdeen reported RevPAR of £49.18 which signalled a 37% decline compared with October 2014.

Sean Morgan, managing director at LJ Research, said: “In September we saw RevPAR reductions in all three cities so it’s pleasing to see some, albeit very marginal, growth for hotels in Scotland’s two largest cities last month.

“In Aberdeen, RevPAR tumbled unprecedentedly below £50 which very much is an indication of the ongoing troubles in the oil and gas sector and stubbornly low crude oil prices.”