Glasgow hotels enjoy record occupancy during Commonwealth Games

14-Aug-2014 - Last updated on 06-Aug-2024 at 15:41 GMT

Glasgow hotels recorded 97.3 per cent occupancy during the Commonwealth Games

Glasgow hotels enjoyed a record of 97.3 per cent occupancy during July as the city played host to the Commonwealth Games, according to LJ Research.

Average occupancy across the nine nights of the Games (23 to 31 July) reached 97.3 per cent (up 11.2 per cent on the same period last year), pushing whole-month levels up 6.5 per cent to 88.5 per cent.

This is the city’s highest July occupancy on record (since 1999), and highlights the growth of the hospitality sector over the past decade, as average occupancy was just 77 per cent in July 2004.

July was also the 14^th consecutive month of occupancy growth for Glasgow’s hotels.

Room yield

The occupancy hike was complemented by a sharp increase in room revenue, as revPAR grew by 65.5 per cent from £50.13 in July 2013 to £82.99 for the same month this year.

According to travel website trivago, Glasgow hotel prices rose by £200 to an average of £344 a night ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

Sean Morgan, managing director at LJ Research, said: “The scale of growth recorded by Glasgow hotels in July was unprecedented as room revenue performance was an average of 65 per cent above last year based on our LJ Forecaster figures.

“There is an opportunity for Glasgow hotels to capitalise on the success of the Commonwealth Games and a heightened appeal to visit Scotland’s largest city. Our forward bookings analysis shows signs of continued growth in the hotel market in the city as business-on-the-books for September, October and November are well above recent years.”

Glasgow City Marketing Bureau rolled out a comprehensive marketing campaign ahead of the Games, which Councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, said “helped to deliver record-breaking occupancy during July and provided a welcome economic boost across our hotels, restaurants, shops, bars and other businesses”.

Olympics factor

Denis MacCann, general manager of Hotel Indigo and co-chair of the Greater Glasgow Hotels Association (GGHA), added: “Glasgow managed to avoid the Olympics factor when London hotels ran at 50 per cent occupancy for the ten days leading up to the opening ceremony and for the five days following the closing ceremony.

The LJ Forecaster report analysed data collected from 25 hotels, representing nearly 4,000 rooms in the city centre.