EDINBURGH hotels enjoyed a surge in room rates in July as the festival season got under way and prestigious golf tournaments also boosted demand.

Tourism market specialist LJ Research, in its latest monthly report published today, says that hotels in Edinburgh achieved an average room rate of £126.30 in July. This was up by 10.3 per cent on the same month of last year.

LJ cited the boost to hotels in the city in July from the Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, and from increased demand arising from the staging of the Scottish Open golf tournament in nearby Gullane and The 2015 Open at St Andrews.

Revenue per available room for Edinburgh hotels, calculated by multiplying occupancy by average rate achieved, came in at £115.66 in July. This was up by 9.6 per cent on the same month of last year.

July occupancy for Edinburgh hotels, at 91.6 per cent, was down by 0.7 per cent on the same month of last year.

The LJ Research report shows that overall revenue per available room for Glasgow hotels in July, at £65.18, was down 21.5 per cent on the same month of last year.

The Commonwealth Games provided a huge boost to Glasgow’s hotel sector in July 2014.

Aberdeen hotels recorded occupancy of 65.3 per cent in July, down from 81.7 per cent in the same month of last year, reflecting the continuing troubles of the oil and gas sector. Average room rate for Aberdeen hotels last month was £79.43, down 18.9 per cent on the same month of last year.