Edinburgh's title as Scotland's number one city break destination has slipped, with Glasgow now neck-and-neck with the capital. Figures from Lynn Jones Research in both cities show that for the first time, occupancy rates of hotels are on a par with those of Edinburgh. The figures also show that in the first five months of 2007, hotels in both cities enjoyed occupancy rates of 73%. When Glasgow hosted the final of the UEFA Cup in May, the city recorded an average occupancy of 84%, an increase of 8% over the same period in 2006 and the highest since records began seven years ago. The same figure for Edinburgh was 85%.
Scott Taylor, chief executive of the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said it was not about the two rival cities competing, but about exceeding the growth in Berlin, Barcelona, London and other competitors: “It's critical that Glasgow and Edinburgh continue to invest strongly in their brands to ensure they are able to compete in the global economy."
John Lennon, professor of tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: "Glasgow has caught up largely because it performs strongly in a number of key areas but it has been a long slow climb. The beauty is, we have two cities, two very strong and different products, just 40 minutes apart…separately they perform well but together they would be unbeatable. Few places in Europe could offer what they could provide together."
Glasgow has set itself the target of 3000 extra hotel rooms in the next decade, with 2400 already planned. The long-term target for Glasgow is to grow tourism by 60% by 2016.
