Bank holiday boost puts Scottish hotels top of UK league table

Average daily rates (ADR) of occupied rooms jumped from £114.32 (April) to £136.08 (May) in Scotland, while rates of UK hotels increased from £138.38 to £150.12. Meanwhile, revenue per available room (RevPAR) - a key industry measure - saw a significant increase, from £83.71 (April) to £105.94 (May) in Scotland, and was up from £100.96 to £112.08 in the UK. Scotland’s hotels also benefitted from an uptick in gross operating profits, which rose to 36.3 per cent in May from 26.4 per cent the month before.

Stuart McCallum, RSM UK’s regional lead for consumer markets in Scotland, said: ‘The impact of the hat-trick of bank holidays in Scotland in May has undoubtedly helped performance in the hotel sector. It is great to see Scotland occupancy rates being ahead of the UK, indicative of a very busy month for hotels with strong demand for the wide range of products. With the Edinburgh Festival in August and the UCI Championships at the same time in Glasgow, demand for hotels is going to rise rapidly, with limited discounts available given the strong demand. RSM’s latest consumer survey shows people still want to book breaks away and are doing so, while households rein in their spending in other areas such as eating out.”

Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK, added: “The hotel sector epitomises the recent resilience of the UK economy where demand has remained robust despite the cost-of-living crisis and rising interest rates. However, consumers are taking out less credit and are using savings to pay down expensive debt.”