Edinburgh’s hotel sector outperformed the UK national average in revenue growth according to new research from real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, showing a healthy performance for the first quarter of the year despite an ongoing increase in the supply of hotels.
The Hospitality Market Spotlight report for Edinburgh, which surveyed full-service city branded
hotels, shows that revenue growth rose by 22% in comparison with Q1 2023. Gross operating profit
per available room increased by almost 69% over the same period.
Gross revenue (rooms, food, and beverage) growth also surpassed costs, however, there was a
rise in undistributed expenses, despite a drop in utilities costs. In particular, payroll costs rose by
11%, partly due to the rise in the National Living Wage.
Carl Ridgley, Head of Hospitality Valuation & Advisory at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “It’s
encouraging news for Edinburgh hoteliers, particularly as VisitScotland recently announced that
Scotland broke its record for the number of international visitors last year. There’s also been an
uplift in the number of hotel investment transactions that took place in Edinburgh last year, which
again was unique to the city compared to the rest of the UK where annual volume of sales
decreased in 2023.”
More than £170m worth of investment transactions took place in Edinburgh’s hospitality sector last
year representing a 132% uplift on the previous year.
