A new study of UK city hotel markets suggests Aberdeen’s woes in the sector may have finally bottomed out.
Business consultancy AlixPartners says growth in revenue per available room (revpar) – a benchmark for hotel performance – had slowed in eight of the 12 cities covered by its quarterly reviews.
The report adds: “Aberdeen recorded an 11th consecutive quarter of falling revpar, although the decline of only 1% suggests that the city may have, finally, hit the bottom.
“With oil prices increasing, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Aberdeen’s long-suffering hoteliers hoping for workers in the industry to return to the city.”
But AlixPartners also warns that a glut of accommodation in and around Aberdeen following a spate of hotel-building “is likely to cause concern”.
Occupancy levels in Aberdeen during the three months to September 30 were down by 3% year-on-year, the report says.
Recent additions to the city market include the Residence Inn by Marriot, in Marischal Square, which opened just last month.
Stephen Gow, who has recently returned to the city as general manager at the Chester Hotel, in Queens Road, after three years working in London, said: “There’s certainly a different landscape in Aberdeen from the bleak picture when I left.
“There’s now a strength in the mid-week market.”
Stronger oil prices, leisure market opportunities and major projects such as the new Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre would “bring a new strength” to the sector in the Granite City, he added.