Hotel managers hopeful of Brexit vote boost

THE Glasgow and Edinburgh hotel sectors turned in solid performances last month, and general managers in the Scottish capital are optimistic sterling’s tumble following the Brexit vote might boost leisure demand, a survey shows.

The survey from tourism market specialist LJ Research also signals the Aberdeen hotel sector suffered another sharp year-on-year fall in revenues last month.

LJ Research said roughly half of Scottish hotel general managers anticipated Brexit would not make a difference to their business.

It added that, among the remainder, there were more who believed Brexit would be a positive factor than expected the June 23 vote to leave the EU to have a detrimental impact on hotel performance.

LJ Research said: “This sentiment was especially pronounced in Edinburgh, as hoteliers indicated that the weaker pound will result in more leisure guests from both overseas and the UK.”

It found other hotel operators that are more exposed to business travellers, though not necessarily from the oil and gas industry, expected increased domestic activity as companies reorganised and their employees needed to travel more for meetings.

The survey shows Edinburgh hoteliers last month sold 1.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent more rooms for August and September, respectively, than they did in July 2015.

With rises in average prices exceeding a fall in occupancy, Edinburgh hotels achieved a 1.7 per cent year-on-year rise in revenue per available room (revpar) to £117.67 in July.

Glasgow saw a similar pattern, but the year-on-year rise in average room rate was sharper at 10.4 per cent. This enabled a 7.8 per cent year-onyear rise in revpar to £70.24.

In Aberdeen, revpar in July was down 14.5 per cent yearon-year at £44.36, as tumbling room rates more than offset occupancy growth.