Inverness hotel manager optimistic about the future
AS an experienced hotel manager born and raised in Inverness, Fraser Peterkin embraced a streak of realism as the four-star, 121-bedroom Mercure Hotel re-opened tentatively in July.
It was felt an occupancy rate of around 35 per cent would amount to reasonable success for the prime city centre venue in these unprecedented times.
Instead, uptake of rooms rocketed to 88 per cent in August and 90 per cent in September, as visitors sought out the beautiful wide open spaces of the Highlands and the compact delights of Inverness city centre, from the hotel’s attractive vantage point above the River Ness.
With well over half of trade now taking the form of last-minute bookings, it remains near-impossible to predict just how well October, and particularly the slower winter months, might shape up.
Mr Peterkin and just over 40 staff remain wary of what the future may hold, but morale is high after such an unexpectedly busy summer and early autumn.
“We were delighted. Speaking to other hotels in the city, everyone has been as busy,” Mr Peterkin (50), who has fulfilled his current role for 12 years, said. “The concern is what November is going to look like, particularly with the end of furlough and the possibility of new restrictions.
“Certainly over the last five to eight years, there has been much more of an international traveller and golf clientèle, with the North Coast 500 helping tremendously as well all year round.
“The latter two are doing well but obviously this year the American and Chinese market has disappeared.”
UK visitors, with a buoyant ‘staycation’ market, are fuelling optimism for a business that relies on room occupancy for around 75 per cent of income.
“It has been really good and positive since re-opening, but as a city we are concerned about the winter months,” Mr Peterkin stressed. “Normally as a hotel manager, you would look at historical data from years previous to predict, but there’s no comparison to this. Inverness and the Highlands have been deemed a quieter location and we have that big, warm Highland welcome, but people are often actually surprised by how busy the city is when they arrive.
“I really do think when there is a vaccine, the Highlands in general will bounce back extremely quickly. It has always been deemed as a fantastic, key destination on anyone’s map.”