THE Glasgow hotel sector has achieved another year-on-year leap in revenue, boosted by major events staged in the city, the latest monthly figures have shown.
Glasgow is the stand-out performer in terms of year-on-year growth in hotel revenue in the latest survey of three and four-star properties, published yesterday by accountancy firm BDO.
However, hotels in Aberdeen and Edinburgh also enjoyed solid year-on-year rises in revenue and the sector in Inverness achieved a more modest advance.
The latest figures show that revenue per available room for hotels in Glasgow in October, at £59.86, was up by 24.2 per cent on the same month of 2013 as events such as the Liberal Democrats' annual conference provided a boost.
This revenue measure, also known as rooms yield, is calculated by multiplying occupancy by average room rate achieved.
In September, Glasgow hotels enjoyed a year-on-year surge in revenue of 35.1 per cent, according to figures published by BDO last month.
The accountancy firm's latest survey signals that Glasgow hotels enjoyed strong year-on-year rises in room rates, as well as occupancy, in October.
Occupancy for Glasgow hotels came in at 88.9 per cent in October, up from 83.7 per cent in the same month of 2013.
The Liberal Democrats' conference was held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. BDO also cited a boost to hotel revenues in October from the holding of the European Open Judo competition at Glasgow's Emirates Arena and the staging of the Alzheimer Europe conference at the city's Crowne Plaza hotel.
The Scottish hotel sector, according to the BDO survey, achieved a year-on-year rise of 11 per cent in revenue per available room in October, to £60.05. Occupancy for Scottish hotels came in at 84.5 per cent in October, up from 82.8 per cent in the same month of 2013.
BDO partner Alastair Rae said: "The positive year for Scotland's hotels continued into the autumn with strong figures for the sector. In particular, Glasgow benefited from a number of large conferences."
Hotels in Aberdeen were second only to those in London with revenue per available room of £75.82 in October, up by 7.6 per cent on the same month of 2013.
Edinburgh was in third spot in the UK in terms of hotel rooms yield. The revenue per available room for Edinburgh hotels was up by 7.7 per cent year-on-year at £67.23 in October.
Hotels in Inverness achieved revenue per available room of £45.90 in October, up by 1.1 per cent on the same month of 2013.
Occupancy in Aberdeen hotels came in at 78.1 per cent in October, down from 81 per cent a year earlier.
Mr Rae said: "It is too early to say whether the fall in oil price will have a direct impact on the hotel sector in the city but it is likely that there will be a dip in the coming months as costs are cut and jobs are potentially lost."
Contemplating the broader picture, he added: "The hospitality sector across Scotland had an excellent October, indicating a return of confidence to the market as consumers and businesses start to spend a bit more. Last year now looks like the turning point for the sector in its return to more normal operating conditions.
"Although it is too early to say that the economy is fully recovered, it does appear as if the hotel market is reflecting a wider growth in consumer and business spending. Whether the issues in the eurozone and the global economy have an impact on this in the coming months remains to be seen but for the moment the sector looks in robust health."
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