North-east tourism experts say Aberdeen’s hotel market is at last showing signs of bouncing back after a fraught few years since the oil price slump.
Granite City hotels have been badly impacted by the North Sea downturn due to so much of their business coming from the offshore oil and gas industry.
And a wave of hotel building, mostly planned before the region’s economic downturn took hold, has prompted fears of substantial over-supply in the market.
But recent efforts to support the growth of other sectors besides oil and gas, as well as developments like Aberdeen harbour’s £350million expansion, the long-awaited city bypass road and a new exhibition and conference centre, with a new football stadium on the way too, have raised confidence.
Andrew Martin, director of the Scottish Centre of Tourism at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said: “Business tourism took a big hit after the oil price slide.
“After years of poor occupancies across Aberdeen city and shire, hotels have now recovered to pre-slide levels. The average room rate, however, is still in some cases half of what it was.
“That said, there is cautious optimism across the city. Great work has been done and is continuing to be done to reinvent Aberdeen as a leisure destination.
“Aberdeen does have a broad range of hotel accommodation offering customers a number of price points and service levels to suit. The new hotels and branded offerings compliment established hotels.”
Chris Foy, chief executive at tourism body VisitAberdeenshire, said: “The investment that is expanding Aberdeen’s accommodation supply is a confident indicator in the future of the city.
“With inbound business alone forecast to grow by 6% in 2018 and with demand exceeding supply in other parts of the country, this is a great opportunity for Aberdeen to increase its share of the market.
“One important way to achieve that will come from attracting high volume business in the form of group travel and by hosting events.”
European and American tour companies clamouring for more hotel rooms in Scotland have already turned to Aberdeen for help, Mr Foy revealed.