Hotels in Scotland outperformed both Wales and England in 2005, generating the highest percentage increase in revenue per available room (revPAR), up by 7.1% on 2004 figures according to the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte. Occupancy in Scottish hotels remained steady, gaining 1.4% and the average room rate increased from £65 to £68 (5.6%). Aberdeen performed particularly well recording 17.5% growth in revPAR.  According to the survey England and Wales recorded 3.4% and 3.2% rev PAR growth respectively.

Of the capital cities Cardiff and Edinburgh revPAR recorded 4.6% and 6.1% growth respectively, with London lagging considerably with only 1.9% revPAR growth.

Marvin Rust, Hospitality Managing Partner says: “As the European oil capital, Aberdeen was Scotland’s fastest growing airport. In 2005 new routes to Southampton, Norwich, Belfast, Oslo, Malaga and Tenerife were launched. According to BAA helicopter traffic grew 14.3% in 2005 – correlating with hotels seeing more corporate bookings last year.

“BAA’s recent announcement of plans for a £10m investment in the airport will no doubt help to sustain this growth. The tourism industry is worth around £4.4 billion (per annum) in Scotland and it is likely the hotel industry will continue to reap the benefits of investment into the sector."

“The third quarter 2005 figures suffered as a result of the terrorist attacks, mainly driven by a fall in London occupancy levels. This was reflected in the dramatic slowdown of the number of visits by overseas residents to the UK – a 4% increase on the third quarter of 2004, compared with double digit growth in the first half of the year,” adds Rust.*

Other results included:

• London top end hotels and boutique hotels continue to outperform other segments of the market with business travellers and tourists seeking a more unique hotel experience;
• December results showed London hotel occupancy levels continued to struggle to meet 2004 figures with -1.4% change;
• Nottingham was the poorest performing city, recording a 5.5% drop in revPAR due to growth in supply.

Ends

Notes to editor
*According to ONS statistics on overseas visits to London growth for the first three quarters of 2005, compared to 2004 figures, was as follows:
1st quarter – 14%
2nd quarter – 10%
3rd quarter – 4%

The HotelBenchmark Survey contains the largest independent source of hotel performance data outside of North America and tracks the performance of over 6,500 hotels and 1.2 million rooms every month. Monthly surveys are produced on the following areas:

• Four regional rate and occupancy surveys covering Asia-Pacific, Europe, Central & South America and the Middle East & Africa.
• 12 country/sub region rate and occupancy surveys for Australia, Benelux, China, Germany, Italy, India, New Zealand, Nordic Countries, Qatar, Southern Africa, Spain and UK.
• Two city rate and occupancy surveys for London and Paris.
• Monthly profitability surveys on Germany and London.
• On an annual basis we produce profitability surveys tracking performance across all regions of the world.
• Daily HotelBenchmark tracks rate and occupancy everyday for a number markets across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Coverage is building rapidly since launch in early 2005.

For further information or details on how to join the survey please call us on +44 (0) 20 7007 3974 or visit us at www.HotelBenchmark.com

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte & Touche LLP which is among the country’s leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting and corporate finance services through more than 9,000 people in 21 locations. Known as an employer of choice for innovative human resources programmes, it is dedicated to helping its clients and people excel. Deloitte & Touche LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (‘DTT’), a Swiss Verein whose member firms are separate and independent legal entities.  Neither DTT nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s omissions.  Services are provided by member firms or their subsidiaries and not by DTT.  Deloitte & Touche LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.  The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.