Hotel revenue and occupancy in Scotland have suffered more than anywhere else in the UK from the effects of the current economic downturn, according to an annual survey.

New figures published by PKF reported a 4.1 per cent decrease in occupancy at Scottish hotels in 2008, compared with 2.7 per cent in England and 2.5 per cent in Wales. Meanwhile, RevPAR in Scotland fell by 2.3 per cent, 0.2 per cent more than in England and 0.6 per cent more than in Wales, with only Aberdeen of the three Scottish cities included in the report showing an increase in RevPAR, mainly due to its offshore oil and gas industry.

Alistair Rae, partner in the hospitality and leisure sector at PKF, said: "The impact of the credit crunch increasingly affected the hotel sector during 2008. The decline in both occupancy and rooms yield in Scotland has increased in pace toward the year end and looks likely to continue into 2009. "The hospitality industry is facing one of its toughest challenges for some time and it is important that the fundamentals of managing costs, increasingly efficiency savings and monitoring profitability remain in place."