Aberdeen marked the 15 month of decline in hotel occupancy rates as the crash in oil and gas prices continued to take its toll on the local hospitality industry.
Average occupancy of Granite City hotel rooms was just 55.7% in February, down almost 20% on the same time last year, according to the monthly LJ Forecaster Scottish Intercity Report.
However it also revealed resilience in the Aberdeen hotel sector relative to the rest of the country.
The average room rate (ARR) in Aberdeen remained above Glasgow’s, despite tumbling 22.9% to £72.46. However, the double whammy of contractions in both occupancy and rates saw hoteliers’ revenue per available room (RevPAR) – a key industry measure of profitability – fall 37.7% to £40.39.
Sean Morgan, Managing Director at LJ Research, said: “In Aberdeen occupancy was most affected by the continued loss of corporate demand linked to the oil and gas sector.”
