Boom time for Edinburgh's hotels with occupancy at a record level

Edinburgh's hotels enjoyed a bumper 2017 as a fall in the value of the pound led to more people booking staycations and also attracted a high number of visitors from abroad.

The city's hotels had the highest occupancy rate of any UK city at 85%, an increase of 1.8% on the previous year.

The figures are revealed in the latest Hotel Britain report from accountants and business advisers BDO.

Overall, Scotland posted the strongest performance in the UK in 2017, with average room yield, or revenue, growing by almost 5% in a year to £56.70.

This is compared to a rise of just over 4% in Wales, 2.2% in Northern Ireland and just under 2% in England.

The report states: "The story of Scottish hotels in 2017 is one of great success.

"The boom in tourism following the depreciation of the pound after the Brexit vote has attracted record-breaking overseas visitor numbers to Scotland as well as the rest of the UK."

However, Aberdeen, which has been hit by the oil industry downturn, experienced the lowest hotel occupancy rate in the UK at 63.4% - a decline of more than 5% on the figures for 2016.

UK-wide, BDO said overseas visitor numbers grew for the eighth consecutive year, setting a new annual record at 38.9 million