Glasgow and Edinburgh hotels report revenue surge

Hotels in Scotland's two largest cities have reported "excellent" revenue growth in March.

Research published by business advisers BDO indicated that Edinburgh led other cities with year-on-year growth of 12%.

Glasgow was close behind with growth of 8.3%, while revenue in Inverness remained almost static.

BDO said "very difficult" conditions reported in the Aberdeen economy were reflected in the figure for hotel revenue declining by 43%.

The problems in Aberdeen dragged down the Scotland-wide figure, which was down 1.8%. The UK average was a decline of 1.5%.

Six Nations

Alastair Rae, BDO's head of audit practice in Scotland, said: "The hospitality sector in Edinburgh and Glasgow had an excellent March with considerable revenue increases in both cities.

"The early Easter and the Six Nations rugby helped Edinburgh increase revenues from leisure activities while Glasgow benefited from a number of concerts and events during the month. For Inverness the month was a 'steady as she goes period' with little change in occupancy or revenue."

But Mr Rae warned: "For Aberdeen's hospitality sector the situation remains very difficult.

"The considerable drop in revenue remains quite stark and is obviously linked to the double digit decline in occupancy.

"Although Aberdeen's revenue is falling from a very high figure a 43.0% drop in year-on-year numbers is a concern."