Scotland’s hotel occupancy rises but profits fall – Daily Business

Scotland’s hotel occupancy increased slightly year-on-year in February, but profits are down as cost pressures continue, according to the RSM Hotels Tracker.

The data, which is compiled and produced by Hotstats and analysed by RSM UK, shows occupancy of Scottish hotels increased slightly from to 68% to 69.1%, and up significantly from 58.7% in January. This mirrored the UK trend, which saw a slight increase from 70.8% in January to 71.5% in February.

Average daily rates (ADR) of occupied rooms held steady in Scotland year-on-year, from £99.18 to £99.10 in February. However, gross operating profits dropped to 14.6% in February 2025, down from 17.2% in February 2024.

Hotel revenue per available room rose slightly year-on-year in February, up from £67.46 to £68.53 in Scotland, bucking the UK trend, which saw a slight drop for the same period, from £89.14 to £88.40.

Stuart McCallum, partner and head of consumer markets in Scotland at RSM UK, said: “A pause on growth, or even a slight dip is not unexpected at this time of year, so the data shows Scotland’s hotels are holding their own, despite recent challenges.

“On a more positive note, an increase in flights available from the US and Canada to Scotland’s airports will potentially bring a boost to Scottish tourism.”

Historic hotel for sale

A historic hotel in Inverary, familiar to visitors to the Argyll town, has gone into administration.

The George Hotel has been run by seven generations of the Clark family since 1860 but had been put up for sale in August last year.

Insolvency specialist Thomas McKay, from Begbies Traynor, hopes it can be sold as a going concern. It employs 60 full and part-time staff.

Mr McKay said: “The directors have taken the difficult decision to place the George Hotel into administration as a result of historic debts which were crippling the cash flow of the business.”

Crieff Hydro fills key positions

Crieff Hydro has Przemek Kaminski as general manager and Ryan Whitcut as executive chef, as the hotel nears the completion of a £5 million transformation of its dining experiences.

Mr Kaminski, joins the hotel following his 13-year tenure as general manager at Future Inns UK.

Stephen Leckie, chief executive at Crieff Hydro, said: “We’re extremely fortunate to welcome such strong talent with Przemek and Ryan joining us during this significant period of strategic change.

“This is the most significant project we’ve undertaken in the last two decades.