The monthly LJ Forecaster Scottish Intercity Report tracking city centre hotel performance shows contrasting fortunes for hoteliers in Scotland’s three largest cities in June.
Demand for hotel beds was highest in Glasgow as room occupancy soared to 92.7% (a growth of 7.4% compared to June 2014). Buoyed by a number of large scale business and leisure events, room occupancy in the city was 95% or above on 16 separate nights during the month.
Edinburgh hotels too benefitted from a surge of business and leisure guests as average occupancy for the month was an impressive 90.9%.
Meanwhile, in Aberdeen the trend observed throughout the year was again apparent as fewer rooms were sold compared to last year (69.1% compared to 79.9% in June 2014 which constituted a fall of 13.5%).
Events and conferences in Glasgow
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau has confirmed that the strong 7.4% year-on-year increase in hotel occupancy figures from June can be attributed to the vast number of major events and large scale conferences that took place in the city throughout the month.
Conferences held collectively welcomed more than 11,000 delegates to the city. These included the European Society for Human Genetics, the Union National Conference and the International Conference on Cytometry.
Additionally, Glasgow hosted performances from Fleetwood Mac, Elton John and Taylor Swift at the SSE Hydro; as well as the AC/DC concert at Hampden Park and the Glasgow Jazz Festival which was held in various venues across the city.
Average room rate
Average room rate (ARR) was highest in Edinburgh as the average cost of a room was £112.62 followed by Aberdeen (£86.33) and then Glasgow (£80.63). Comparing performance with last year, these figures showed buoyant growth of 15.4% in Glasgow and, for the second month in a row, a double digit decline (-12.7%) in Aberdeen. Meanwhile, flat lining performance was evident in Edinburgh.
RevPAR
Factoring in both occupancy and average rate performance, average Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) or yield – the industry’s main performance measure – was highest in Edinburgh at £102.42 (up by 1.2% compared to June 2014). RevPAR in Glasgow soared by 24.3% compared to last year to £74.76 which for the second consecutive month outperformed Aberdeen (£59.66) where yields fell by 24.6%.
Looking to the next few months ahead, the LJ Forecaster Intercity Report shows that accommodation bookings are building steadily for hoteliers in Glasgow and Edinburgh and to a lesser extent in Aberdeen. For the latter, there is evidence of a double digit reduction in bookings for July which signals a continuation of challenging trading conditions for the hospitality sector in the North East.
“We also need to remember that the number of hotel bedrooms in Aberdeen has significantly increased and that the number of hotels being developed continues to grow. The increased number of bedrooms impacts on occupancy levels but, more importantly, this needs to be viewed positively as it now gives leisure and business travellers more choice.”
About LJ Research Ltd
LJ Research Ltd is a leading provider of key data and specialised insight to the tourism, travel and hospitality industry. Produced by LJ Research Ltd, the LJ Forecaster produces the most comprehensive set of destination occupancy reports available, providing hotel and destination tourism managers with an up-to-date picture of the total room occupancy and availability in their city based on past and future sales.
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