Scottish hotels 'outperform rest of UK'

Aberdeen had the highest hotel revenue outside London last year as Scotland's hospitality sector outperformed the rest of the UK, according to a report.

Accountants BDO found average rooms yield in the Granite City was £70.88 over the course of the year.

Edinburgh was fourth highest in the UK at £63.04. Second and third were Oxford at £64.54 and Windsor at £63.69.

Glasgow saw the most improved revenue increase, rising 26.6% to £53.88 on the back of the Commonwealth Games.

Conferences and events in the city also boosted hotel revenues.

Inverness saw rooms yield rise by 3.9% to £41.20 over the year.

For Scotland as a whole, hotel revenue increased by 11% to £54.88.

Meanwhile, occupancy rates rose 2.6% in Glasgow to 81.1% but fell in Aberdeen by 2.6% to 74.9%.

Edinburgh was down 0.9% to 78.8%, while Inverness dropped by 1.9% to 73.8%.

The regular survey by BDO covers all parts of the UK except London.

'Very positive year'

Alastair Rae, from BDO, said: "Last year was undoubtedly a very positive year for the hotel sector in Scotland, recording the highest occupancy levels and highest revenue figures of any part of the UK.

"The occupancy numbers were led by Glasgow which was given an enormous boost due to the Commonwealth Games which also pushed revenue up by the highest amount in the UK.

"However, the star performer for revenue was Aberdeen which averaged revenue of £70.88 for the entire year.

"This was fuelled by the high oil price which kept the market buoyant for the first six months."

He added: "However, although revenue has remained strong occupancy levels have been falling in the last quarter as the oil and gas sector reassesses its commitment to the North Sea.

"The obvious assumption is that the reduction in oil price will have a knock-on effect on the hospitality sector in the coming year so, although Aberdeen's hotels have had an outstanding 2014, it would be wise to monitor costs to reflect potentially lower demand in the coming year."