Scottish Accommodation Occupancy Survey Annual Report 2016
Contents 1. What is the Scottish Accommodation Occupancy Survey? 03 2. Hotels 08 3. Guest Houses and B&Bs 15 4. Self-catering 21 5. Caravan & camping parks 28 6. Hostels 33 7. Appendices 2
1. What is the Scottish Accommodation Occupancy Survey? 3
Survey introduction The most up-to-date and detailed source of information for monitoring the performance of the tourism industry in Scotland. Information is collected and analysed, with results available within several weeks of the end of each month. This report presents the key themes coming from the 2016 data for the five main accommodation sectors* (shown below). Detailed data tables are available as an appendix to this report. Hotels Guest Houses and B&Bs Caravan & camping parks Self-catering Hostels *Where available, comparative figures from previous years are also presented throughout the report. Separate sector specific reports are also available. Throughout the reports the following abbreviations have been used: SE = Scottish Enterprise area, HIE = Highlands and Islands Enterprise area, MBSE = Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise area, ALLFV = Argyll, Loch Lomond and Forth Valley area 4
Methodology At the start of each month in 2016, operators received a form. On the form, the information requested varied by sector, as follows: Serviced Arrivals Guests (including business) Rooms occupied Additional beds and rooms used (if any) Self-catering Lets Number of nights let Tariff Party size Caravan/ Camping Parks Number of pitches Pitches let Tariff per pitch Hostels Arrivals (UK/ Overseas) Guests (UK/ Overseas) Additional beds used (if any) Completed forms were returned to TNS Travel and Tourism for analysis at the end of the month. Data for the whole of 2016 was re-run following the end of the year to include any forms returned after the monthly analysis was complete. The figures reported are based on the annual re-run and therefore may vary from those initially produced in the monthly summaries. 5
The benefits of participation Accommodation demand Comprehensive and up-to-date information on the demand for accommodation in Scotland Key performance indicator Comprehensive Up-to-date Participants received monthly reports with a record of their own occupancy rates, those of similar businesses in their area and in Scotland as a whole The monthly reports are an invaluable business tool, for example, in business planning, loan/grant applications etc. Participation comes at no cost all materials and results are provided free of charge Information provided is treated in the strictest confidence, with data only publicly available in aggregate form. The identity of participants is strictly confidential 6
Occupancy levels by sector Consistent with 2015 and across all sectors, Hotels had the highest occupancy rates with 54% bed occupancy and 71% room occupancy Guest House and B&Bs had a 42% room occupancy rate and a 36% bed occupancy rate For Self-catering properties, unit occupancy stayed at 48% in 2016 Pitch occupancy increased for Caravan & Camping Parks to 44% in 2016 Hostels grew with 57% bed occupancy and overseas occupancy to 24% 7
2. Hotels 8
Hotels in brief Bed and room occupancy have seen a steady increase since 2002 During the summer months, both bed and room occupancy rates were higher, with room occupancy around 84% between June and September, and reaching a peak of 87% in August Hotels with tariffs of 40+ continued to grow in bed occupancy, and room occupancy increased for hotels with 40-59.99 tariffs Similar to 2015, room occupancy for hotels in cities/ large towns was 77% Seaside hotels had the most growth between 2015 and 2016, with bed occupancy rising from 52% to 56% TNS 2017 9
Occupancy rates remain consistent 2015-2016 (percentage point change) Both bed and room occupancy rates at the overall level have remained largely consistent between 2015 and 2016. Small increases are present in bed occupancy rates. 2 Bed occupancy 4 2 Room occupancy 2 1 3 3 3 3 3 4 5 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2014 2015 2016-2 -2-1 -1-1 -2 Bed occupancy (annual averages) 5 2 % 5 2 % 5 4 % Percentage point change +1 NO CHANGE +2 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Room occupancy (annual averages) Percentage point change 2014 2015 2016 70% 7 1 % 71% +2 +1 NO CHANGE The summer months of 2016 saw the highest levels of room occupancy at around 84%. Monthly analysis of occupancy levels shows the greatest increase from 2015, for both room and bed occupancy, in November and December. 10
Levels of occupancy increase in line with tariff band Consistent with the trends, room and bed occupancy are greater for the more expensive rooms than the lower tariff rooms Bed occupancy Room occupancy 2015 2016 2015 2016 Tariff 30-39.99 37 34 Percentage point change -3 Tariff 30-39.99 53 47 Percentage point change -6-3 40-49.99 39 40 +1 40-49.99 56 58 +2 50-59.99 51 52 +1 50-59.99 68 70 +2 60+ 55 56 +1 60+ -1 74 73 11
Increased occupancy for Seaside hotels Bed and room occupancy rates for Seaside hotels in 2016 are at the highest levels recorded Small town Seaside Country/ village City/ large town Mainland Island Bed occupancy 2015 42% 52% 51% 56% 2016 42% 56% 52% 57% Room occupancy 2015 61% 66% 63% 7 7 % 2016 63% 67% 63% 77% 2016 Bed occupancy 54% 56% 2016 Room occupancy 7 7 % 66% Room occupancy rates are higher for Mainland hotels than for Island hotels 12
Area profiles Largest percentage point (2015-2016) increases for: Bed occ % Room occ% Bed occupancy Highlands Western Isles Room occupancy Dumfries & Galloway +5 +5 +5 Aberdeen & Grampian 39 63 Angus & City of Dundee 45 64 Perthshire 52 68 Fife 55 64 ALLFV* 61 69 Edinburgh & Lothian 65 82 Glasgow & Clyde Area 53 78 Highlands +5 Ayrshire & Arran 53 67 Scottish Borders 43 59 Dumfries & Galloway 40 53 Highlands 54 69 Western Isles 48 62 *Argyll, Loch Lomond & Forth Valley 13
Continued growing levels of confidence Business confidence has continued to increase for all months over the last four years indictates percentage point change from 2013-2016 2016 +30 97 74 +5 +5 83 83 83 83 +24 +14 88 88 +8 78 71 69 71 +16 95 +7 92 67 67 +11 89 73 +8 94 +8 96 79 77 +2 92 68 Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec very / quite confident for next 12 months % Please note that not all establishments provide this information 14
3. Guest Houses and B&Bs 15
Guest-houses and B&Bs summary Both bed and room occupancy rates have decreased since 2015 The summer months of 2016 were the busiest months of the year for GH and B&Bs, with bed and room occupancy rates peaking between May to September Properties charging 50-59.99 per night have seen a decline in bed occupancy rates from 64% in 2015, to 34% in 2016 In comparison to 2010-2015 where Seaside GH & B&Bs had the highest occupancy rates, the results from 2016 indicate that highest rates are now in Small towns 16
Consistent seasonal variations in bed occupancy The 2016 annual average bed occupancy rate was lower compared to the two previous years Bed occupancy was the highest in the summer, with the months outside the traditional summer season having lower rates, consistent with previous trends 2014 2015 2016 3 8 % 40% 36% Bed occupancy 27 52 April % September % +19-21 46 31 May % October % 17
Size and tariff Size of establishment Figures for bed occupancy of both smaller and larger establishments have seen a decrease Tariff Bed occupancy has seen an increase in the 20-29.99 tariff. The biggest decrease is for 50-59.99 Bed occupancy (%) 1-3 rooms 34% 43% 31% 44% Bed occupancy (%) 2014 2015 2016 Percentage point change 2014-2016 4-10 rooms 2013 2014 44% 48% 31% 31% 39% 37% 37% 31% 20-29.99 27 30 34 1 30-39.99 35 34 33 40-49.99 44 45 42 + 50-59.99 53 64 34-19 60+ 46 41 32 +7-2 -2-14 2015 2016 44% 18
Small towns increase in GH / B&B occupancy Bed occupancy rates have increased in small towns by 6% Bed occupancy 3 4 % 2015 2016 36% 40% 41% 41% 36% 33% 3 4 % 3 3 % City / large town Small town Seaside Countryside / village 19
Mixed levels of confidence in 2016 Levels of business confidence have remained similar to previous patterns, with variation throughout the year. Confidence was higher at the start and end of the year however, dipping in the summer Indicates percentage point change from 2015 2 74-11 -10-6 -15 8-27 -15-6 64 64 76 66 60 59 51 54-4 79-8 69 9 78 Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec 2016 (very / quite confident %) 20
4. Self-catering 21
Self-catering summary Unit occupancy has stayed consistent in the self-catering sector between 2015 and 2016 (at 48%) As would be expected, occupancy levels were highest in the summer months, peaking at 8 1% in August. January, December and November were the quietest months for the sector Properties in cities/ large towns continued to have the highest occupancy rates compared with 2015 Non-graded properties grew in unit occupancy 22
Unit occupancy levels remain the same Annual unit occupancy levels stayed the same as 2015 Similar to 2015, unit occupancy rates for July and August were higher compared to any other months. Rates in these months are also considerably higher than in 2012 Unit occupancy rate Unit occupancy rates 2016 2014 2015 4 6 % 4 8 % 2016 2 5 % 48% indictates percentage point change 2012-2016 +6 +6 +9 3 4 % 3 4 % +6 50% +4 5 3 % +1 63% +9 75% +12 81% +5 63% +14 5 8 % +2 +1 2 9 % 2 6 % Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 23
Continued increases for cities and large towns Unit occupancy Increases in unit occupancy were recorded for cities and large towns City / large town Small town Seaside Country / village 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 6 4 % 6 5 % 5 5 % 49% 4 4 % 4 1 % 4 9 % 49% +1-6 -3 NO CHANGE indictates percentage point change from 2014 24
Independent-let occupancy increases Annual average unit occupancy rates for agent-let properties have decreased slightly from 2015. Independently-let properties have however increased in unit occupancy Unit occupancy (%) Agent-let Independently 2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016 47 46 51 50 43 47 45 47 25
Non-graded properties see increases in unit occupancy Not graded properties continued to see a steady increase in unit occupancy rates. All graded unit occupancy has decreased from 2015 but, are still higher compared to levels in 2011-2014. Unit occupancy All Graded Not graded 2014 4 8 % 2014 4 2 % 2015 52% 2015 4 3 % 2016 5 0 % - 2 2016 4 4 % +1 Percentage point change from 2015 Percentage point change from 2015 26
Mixed levels of confidence across the year Business confidence during 2016 was mixed, with higher than 2015 results observed throughout July and August but, decreasing levels in the majority of the other months indicates percentage point change in 2015 NO CHANGE 80-8 -4 68 67-4 72-9 67-2 69 +1 +3 72 72-4 77-6 68-3 76-10 79 Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec 2016 (very / quite confident %) 27
5. Caravan & camping parks 28
Parks summary The seasonal average for parks, based on data from April to October, shows pitch occupancy has increased between 2015 and 2016 (from 41% to 44%) Consistent with the trends, occupancy levels peaked during the summer months of June, July and August Larger sites, with 100-199 pitches, had a higher pitch occupancy rate than smaller sized sites Highlands & Islands saw the most pitch growth from 2015 to 2016 29
Pitch occupancy increases from 2015 By month: Analysed monthly, pitch occupancy has seen a steady increase compared to 2015, with the largest percentage point changes being in the summer months Pitch occupancy 2015 2016 Percentage point change April 28% 25% -3 May 39% 41% +2 June 46% 50% +4 July 49% 55% +6 August 55% 62% +7 September 42% 4 4 % +2 October 25% 25% NO CHANGE Seasonal-average 41% 4 4 % +3 30
Pitch occupancy grew for all sizes in 2016 Pitch occupancy increased for all pitch sizes in 2016 Pitch occupancy 1-49 pitches Larger sites 1-49 pitches 2014 2015 2016 3 1 % 3 5 % 3 8 % 50-99 pitches 2014 2015 2016 4 4 % 39% 43% 100-199 pitches 2014 2015 2016 4 7 % 47% 4 8 % 31
Regional growth Pitch occupancy grew the most in the Highlands & Islands Pitch occupancy Highlands & Islands 38% 45% +7 indictates percentage point change from 2015-2016 2015 percentage 2016 percentage Tayside 43% 41% -2 South of Scotland 48% 54% +6 Edinburgh & East Central 36% 38% +2 32
6. Hostels 33
Hostels summary Hostels experienced growth in bed occupancy, from 52% in 2015, to 57% in 2016 Data from overseas visitors indicates an increase in occupancy from 23% in 2015, to 24% in 2016 34
Growing hostel occupancy 2016 saw the highest level of annual average bed occupancy Overseas bed occupancy has continued to show an increase Annual average bed occupancy rates (%) Overseas growth indicates percentage point change from 2016 occupancy rate +17 40 +12 45 +7 +5 50 52 57 2014 20% 2015 2 3 % 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2016 24% Increase of 1 percentage point from 2015 *Please note that due to the relatively small sample size, results should be treated with a degree of caution 35