Inverness has secured the surprising lead in Colliers International’s Scottish hotel hot-spot survey. The combination of strong levels of demand, rising ADRs, relatively low development costs and high occupancy levels has pulled Inverness ahead of Edinburgh, which claims second place, The Scotsman reports.
The leading city has reported high levels of demand of around 80 percent over the past four years. This has allowed ADR to see a 22-percent increase between 2013 and 2016.
Marc Finney, head of hotels and resorts consulting at Colliers International, said in a statement, “Our Scottish hotels market index shows the changes taking place in the sector. The study, in particular, highlights that Inverness is not necessarily the best hotel market north of the Border, but it is currently providing the best opportunities in Scotland.”
He also said that it’s cheap to buy hotel sites in Inverness. Therefore, investors gain better value for money than in other Scottish cities, like Edinburgh.
“Despite being expensive, Edinburgh is also on an upward trend,” Alistair Letham, Scottish director in the U.K. hotels agency team at Colliers, added in a statement.
Colliers International’s Scottish hotel index is based on analysis of five locations, ranking Glasgow third, Perth and Dundee (which are combined in the study) fourth and Aberdeen last. The property consultancy ranked the cities according to nine key indicators to determine the hot spots for hotel development and acquisition activity.
Two hotels included in Inverness’ construction pipeline include Patio Hotel Group’s renovated Maple Court Hotel on the banks of the River Ness and a new Travelodge.