The Highlands attracts over four million overnight visitors a year, a figure that has grown significantly recently. The increasing popularity can be credited to the stunning natural beauty the region has to offer. With Inverness’s excellent connectivity to London and an airport that is branded ‘The Gateway to the Highlands’, does Inverness present an unmissable opportunity for hoteliers?

Inverness is a market that is currently undersupplied in servicing the increasing number of tourists that visit the city every year. Currently, the city has 49 hotels, equating to 2,178 rooms, to meet the growing demand from visitors. Occupancy rates are steadily increasing; in the past year the market has risen 1.6 per cent, and now stands at 83.8 per cent, highlighting the strong appetite for accommodation. Over the same period, the Edinburgh and Glasgow markets have seen a decrease in occupancy rates, which now stand at 81.2 per cent and 78.6 per cent respectively (YTD August 2019).

Over the summer a number of accommodation websites claimed they were almost at capacity, which is no surprise considering Scotland was voted as the most beautiful country in the world by Rough Guides readers. The inherent beauty of the Highlands has attracted a new generation of tourists keen on capturing that showstopping photograph for social media.

The growth in passenger numbers experienced at Inverness Airport suggests demand for rooms will continue to intensify. From 2012 to 2018 passenger numbers increased by almost 50 per cent to 900,000. The boom in popularity has coincided with hit television shows such as Outlander and recent big budget films based in Scotland, including Outlaw King and Mary Queen of Scots. The Highlands has also been the filming locations for Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, which has seen a new sector of tourism flourish.

Furthermore, The Northcoast 500 (NC500), which launched four years ago, makes it even easier to travel around the area. Since opening, it has attracted tens of thousands of new visitors to the region, benefitting Inverness where the NC500 starts.

This year saw the opening of Ness Walk, following a £7 million investment from the Kingsmill Hotel Group. The new five-star hotel opened in July 2019 and is positioned conveniently in the heart of Inverness city centre and only a few minutes’ walk from Inverness station.

However, the tourist industry is not the only driver for demand. The burgeoning business community and the development of the Inverness Campus has created a growing corporate demand for rooms. It is currently in its second phase of development catering for technology and life sciences companies. Over 900 employees are currently based there and this is expected to grow to 1,300 by 2022.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise has recently submitted plans to develop a new hotel on the Campus by 2021, a proposed Ibis, which is expected to include flexible space to be able to cater for a broad spectrum of business uses.

With clear and growing appetite for the region, it’s no wonder we are seeing an increasing pipeline of hotels. Currently, three hotels have provisional opening dates between now and the end of 2021 – Courtyard Inverness Airport, Hampton by Hilton Inverness and Ibis Inverness Campus, delivering a combined 470 rooms.

Further information

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