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Record May occupancy marks a year of continued growth for Glasgow’s hotels

It is the highest occupancy level for May Glasgow has seen since monthly-record keeping began in 1999 and reflects a 9.5% rise compared with May 2013.

A new report has revealed that Glasgow recorded the highest growth in demand for hotel rooms in Scotland in May as record occupancy levels marked a year of continued success for the city’s hotel sector.

The monthly LJ Forecaster Scottish Intercity Report, from tourism market research specialists LJ Research, tracks hotel performance in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. It shows that Glasgow was the only city of the three to record an increase in occupancy last month; averaging 87.4%.

It is the highest occupancy level for May Glasgow has seen since monthly-record keeping began in 1999 and reflects a 9.5% rise compared with May 2013. Meanwhile, occupancy in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen fell by 3.4% and 3.8% to 88.0% and 76.5% respectively.

It also demonstrates the scale of industry growth in the city in the past 15 years and is only the fourth time that average occupancy in May has reached 80% or greater. Moreover, May was the 12th consecutive month of record-breaking year-on-year occupancy rates for Glasgow’s hotels.

Specifically, on 13 separate nights last month, occupancy reached 95% or more; peaking at 99% on Tuesday, May 20, which coincided with US-band Nine Inch Nails performing at the SSE Hydro and again on Saturday, May 24, which coincided with BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend at Glasgow Green.

The LJ Forecaster Scottish Intercity Report analysed the performance of over 70 city centre hotels across Scotland’s three largest cities in May 2014.

There was more good news for Glasgow’s hoteliers as May’s high occupancy reflected an increase in room yields – the industry’s standard measure of revenue per available room, known as RevPAR.

Sean Morgan, Managing Director at LJ Research, said: “Revenue per available room (RevPAR) – a key hotel performance metric which factors in both sold and unsold rooms – increased by 19.7% on May 2013 to £61.29 in Glasgow compared to just 2.5% and 2.8% in Edinburgh and Aberdeen respectively. May’s excellent performance marked the fifth consecutive month that Glasgow’s hoteliers have enjoyed double-digit RevPAR growth compared to the same period last year, which is a remarkable level of performance for Scotland’s largest city.

“An increase in major event activity due to the opening of the SSE Hydro is a key factor contributing to this marked upward trend. A busy schedule of events in the period building up to the Commonwealth Games, including Robbie Williams’ performance at the SSE Hydro later this month and the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix athletics next month, will continue to drive significant volumes of visitors to the city, benefitting hoteliers and the broader tourism and hospitality market in Glasgow.”

Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) believes May’s visitor influx can be attributed to a number of key events and conferences that took place throughout the month.

These included the European Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the Association of Corporate Treasurers Annual Conference, which were held at the SECC; performances by Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Barry Manilow and Prince at the SSE Hydro; and sporting events, Four Nations Karate at the Emirates Arena and the Bupa Great Women’s 10k.

In particular, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend – the largest free ticketed music festival in Europe – greatly bolstered the number of people visiting the city, with approximately 70,000 people attending the four events at the Riverside Museum (May 17), George Square (May 23) and Glasgow Green (May 24 & 25).

Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “It’s testament to Glasgow’s strength and appeal, both as a leading short-break destination and as a host city for major events and conferences, that while many other cities are seeing a drop in visitor numbers, Glasgow is more than holding its own.

“May was a mega month of music in Glasgow, with global stars performing at the SSE Hydro and BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend attracting thousands of music fans. This is set to continue as we prepare to host a string of big name acts for Glasgow Summer Sessions, Magners’ Summer Nights and the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) – further reinforcing the city’s status as one of only five UNESCO Cities of Music in the world. This is the year of Glasgow and it is already proving to be one of the most exciting, and high profile, in the city’s history.”

Philip Mellor, General Manager of Menzies Hotel and Co-Chair of the Greater Glasgow Hotels Association (GGHA), said: “The strength of Glasgow’s tourism sector is a reflection of the GGHA and industry partners working together with the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and the SECC to achieve business success for the city in what is a highly-competitive global marketplace.”

News Editor - TravelDailyNews Media Network | + Posts

Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.

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