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Hotels in Scotland and Northern Ireland outperformed the rest of the UK in the year to June 2024, as RevPAR grew by circa 12% year-on-year, according to data from CoStar.
Occupancy and rates have achieved the biggest increases, too, with Edinburgh hotels being one of the top performers.
Scotland showed the strongest recovery in overseas visitors in 2023 compared with 2019, with visits up 15% while spend was up 41%, further supporting business for Scottish hotels.
Bruce Springsteen’s sold-out concert in Belfast at the beginning of May contributed to prices soaring.
Meanwhile, greater flight capacity may also be supporting demand growth in Northern Ireland, with Belfast International Airport reporting a 30% increase in passenger numbers during the first quarter compared to 2023.
Robust demand from the Republic of Ireland has also enabled hoteliers to drive pricing in Northern Ireland as overnight stays from the neighbouring country grew by 45% in 2023, significantly surpassing levels seen pre-pandemic.
Hotels in most submarkets experienced double-digit revenue growth, supported by international travel, an increase in golf business and major events, including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
Wales has been an underperformer and also seeing the weakest recovery in tourism, especially from an international perspective, where visits remained 11% below 2019 levels,
Finally, hotels in England have experienced more moderate revenue growth, although still in positive territory.
Given England’s higher share of rooms, totalling nearly 570,000, the nation’s hotel performance has a greater influence on the overall UK results.
Room demand over the first half of 2024 points to stable performance growth, with hoteliers managing to grow average room rates in line with inflation at approximately 2%.
