Inverness hoteliers looking forward to a cracking Easter and the summer season is also shaping up to be on a par with pre-Covid levels
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The summer season is also shaping up to be on a par with pre-Covid levels – up from the drop during the pandemic.
Tony Story, the managing director of Patio Hotels which owns Kingsmills and Ness Bank hotels in the Highland capital, said bookings were looking good despite a few Covid-related cancellations.
“We have got high levels of reservations, there’s no doubt about that, it’s just as long as we have the incoming business outweighing the outgoing business,” he said.
Mr Story said he was seeing international business coming in from America and Canada, adding: “Kingsmills for example was at 93 per cent occupancy last month which is pretty good.”
Mr Story described the level of advance bookings as being “very similar” to what they were pre-pandemic. “I suspect that the international market will not be as strong this year to what would normally be expected but I think that is more likely to be as a result of Ukraine than Covid but it is impossible to say.”
Emmanuel Moine, the general manager of the city’s Glen Mhor Hotel and Apartments, said: “Inverness is definitely filling up for Easter. And Covid seems to be slowly going away.”
He said that the summer was also looking encouraging and guests were returning – including those from America and Europe, adding: “We are almost back to normal.”
Adam McMaster, a director at Loch Ness Clansman Hotel, said bookings were looking strong, adding: “Although most reservations are with a much shorter lead time than we have seen in previous years, it is strong in the sense that room rates are up, however the cost to deliver the service has increased so much – particularly recently – that the budgets we work to are almost meaningless.”
He said customers were mainly from the UK but expected a shift to more international visitors in the summer. “It appears that a significant number of people have postponed their trips by a number of weeks while the disparity between Scottish Covid restrictions and the rest of the United Kingdom are still in place,” he said.
Mr McMaster said he was optimistic about the summer, adding: “There is a far more invigorated group tour market, where there has been zero bookings [during the pandemic]. There is now an optimistic outlook on the much-missed summer bookings on paper, with a much improved confidence of delivering the tours.”
Organisations aiming to attract more tourists to the area were also buoyed by industry feedback.
Jo De Sylva, the chairwoman of Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN), said: “After a particularly tough few years we are delighted to see bookings increasing across the Highlands.
“We know we have some of the most stunning scenery, most welcoming accommodation, the most interesting attractions and without a doubt the friendliest and most welcoming people, and who wouldn’t want to experience that perfect combination.
“The hard work done by the team at Visit Inverness Loch Ness throughout the pandemic means that we were always hopeful that when people began to travel, the Highlands would be top of their list.
“This time a year ago, we were in a very different position so it’s amazing, in 12 months, for the outlook to have changed so greatly and the future to be looking so bright.”
Yvonne Crook, the chairwoman of Highland Tourism, said they were seeing very strong bookings with operators across the board. She added: “There are also encouraging strong signs that the international market will recover in part this year.”
Allison McGuire, from the Port of Cromarty Firth and a Highland Tourism ambassador, said: “The cruise industry is now getting back to normal.
“Due to the protocols and procedures developed over the last two years, the industry is now seen as the safest way to travel, this is reflected in the high demand for future vacations and the bookings for 2023 and onwards are already making an impact.
“We are already seeing a positive recovery locally, and look forward to 115 cruise calls to Invergordon this year, that’s over 200,000 passengers and 70,000 crew through the port gates. That is a 13.8 per cent increase on 2019 figures and should generate in the region of £20 million pounds to the wider supply chain and the Highland economy.”
