Staying positive: Multimillion-pound Inverness hotel project to start later this year
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DEVELOPERS behind plans for a major new multimillion-pound Inverness hotel are confident the region’s hospitality trade will bounce back from the ravages of the Covid pandemic.
Lockdowns have had a devastating impact on the sector, but pent-up demand for “staycations” during the summer sparked a bumper arrival of domestic tourists to the region.
And Stewart Campbell, of SRP Inverness, expects a similar influx as vaccination numbers rise and infection rates finally fall away.
The developer is behind plans for a major 210-bedroom hotel next to Farraline Park bus station.
And although their initial summer 2021 opening date fell by the wayside after the coronavirus struck, they believe work on the new six-storey Hampton by Hilton hotel will get under way in earnest before the end of this year – with a view to opening by March 2023.
By then, Mr Campbell is predicting that the hospitality sector will have bounced back – thanks to the area’s existing desirability as a holiday destination, and the likelihood that many UK holidaymakers may opt for a domestic vacation while lingering uncertainty continues over Covid-19.
He said: “Everything is still positive. There is no reason at this stage to think that the project isn’t viable. Everything is still positive in the long-term.”
He acknowledged that “hotel hospitality has been hit probably more than most businesses because of Covid” but that he thinks international visitors will come back, adding: “And I think that in the short term, hotels in Inverness will do very well from staycations.
“Lots of people from the UK who can’t go abroad will go to Inverness. So I think Inverness hospitality will bounce back very strongly, and that there is a market there that we think is very strong for hotels.”
Moving on to his own development, which will be built on the site of the demolished two-storey car park in Rose Street, Mr Campbell said that while it “depends on when the world gets back to normal” he feels that, all going well, construction will start on site by “the end of this calendar year”, possibly in November.
“Then it would be about 14 months after that before we could open, so that would take us to March 2023 to be the earliest we could open now. That’s probably the best estimate of when we could open given the current situation.”
But he added that the current planning permission has a three-year window for the start of construction, which gives added flexibility if any unexpected Covid developments rear their head.
He added: “That’s our fallback if you like, but we certainly don’t want to wait that long.”
The property will also feature a fitness suite for hotel guests’ use only, a bar and restaurant and car park to the rear.
Planning permission was also recently granted for a new bus link on the edge of the hotel site, connecting the bus station to Rose Street – a move which is expected to ease congestion on Academy Street by helping public transport services exit straight on to the A82.
When initial demolition work at the former Rose Street two-storey car park site took place 12 months ago, Mr Stewart said: “We believe the development will regenerate a part of Inverness that had lost a bit of heart and soul, as well as the footfall, while also reducing traffic and pollution from buses.
“It will really bring it alive and make it more of a 24-hour area, as these hotels tend to do.
“It will mean the buses doing a much shorter route and not having to go around in a big circle before they start their journey.
“A Hilton brand hotel will attract a lot of global tourism as well.”
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