“In Scotland, the rise in demand for premium experiences is welcome news for luxury and mid market hotels” – Stuart McCallum, RSM UK
Demand for rooms in Scotland’s luxury hotels was stronger than elsewhere in the UK over the summer amid a “strong food and drink offering” and despite some pre-Budget worries, new figures suggest.
The latest hotels tracker from audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK shows that people are “trading up” their choice of places to stay, with Scotland’s luxury and “mid market” hotels seeing a boost. Demand for budget hotels, meanwhile, has fallen amid easing cost-of-living pressures.
The data, which is compiled and produced by Hotstats and analysed by RSM, reveals that occupancy of luxury hotels in Scotland increased from an average 79.5 per cent in August 2023 to 83.8 per cent in August of this year, edging above the UK which saw occupancy levels rise from 72 per cent to 76.1 per cent in the same period. In addition, Scottish mid market hotel occupancy ticked up slightly from 86.5 per cent to 87.8 per cent.
In contrast, occupancy in Scottish budget hotels eased from 89.2 per cent to 88.1 per cent, year on year, suggesting consumers have more disposable income to splurge, with UK budget hotels also registering a fall in occupancy, from 83.4 per cent to 79.8 per cent.
In line with increased demand, average room rates of luxury hotels in Scotland rose from £385.33 to £393.35 over the year to August, while UK wide there was an increase from £340.78 to £380.30 during the same period. Scotland’s mid market hotels jumped from £149.11 to £164.69, with budget hotels seeing a more modest increase (from an average of £140.38 to £140.59).
Stuart McCallum, partner and head of consumer markets in Scotland at RSM UK, said: “Despite some market uncertainty in the run up to next week’s autumn Budget, Scotland’s luxury and mid market hotels performed strongly in August, with occupancy edging above the rest of the UK.
