Aberdeen’s booming hotel sector employed nearly 4,000 people and generated many millions of pounds for the north-east economy in 2013, a survey has shown.
The study revealed that Aberdeen City and Shire Hotels’ Association (ACSHA)’s 44 independently operated member hotels generated £201.4million in revenue and accommodated 1.4million overnight guests last year.
They employed 3,780 people, paid £3.9million in wages, spent an estimated £11.3million locally on food and drink and contributed £6.24million in rates to the local authority.
ACSH chairman Chris McGuinness said the findings provided valuable insight into the hotel industry and showed it continued to perform strongly in the north-east.
He added: “We have identified many positive areas from the survey, most notably the number of people that we are employing locally.
“We estimated that some 2,380 people are employed on a full-time basis, with a further 1,400 in part-time or casual roles.”
The survey was carried out in March last year, so does not reflect hotels taking on extra staff during the busy summer and Christmas periods.
Mr McGuinness said the economic impact on the north-east economy could, therefore, be much greater.
He added: “We can see that member hotels are contributing significantly to the economy, whether directly through procurement of food and beverage from the local area or directly through the staff payroll.”
Members were also asked to highlight the top difficulties faced by customers when visiting or staying in Aberdeen.
The number one overall issue was room availability and rates, followed closely by local transport and taxis.
The top challenges facing member hotels were identified as recruitment and skills shortages.
Mr McGuinness said: “We are acutely aware that demand for bedrooms in Aberdeen and the shire is very high, despite the additional hotels that have come to the city in the past two years.
“Visitors are still finding it difficult to get hotel rooms in Aberdeen during the week, and we hope that new developments coming to fruition in the near future will help to address this demand.
“As with just about every other sector in Aberdeen, the strong and buoyant economy means that recruitment is an issue for our members.”