Hotels in Scotland outperformed those in the rest of the UK in October indicating a further improvement in the economy, hospitality experts say.
Levels of occupancy and revenue were higher in Scotland than in England and Wales, according to a monthly hotel survey by accountants and business advisers BDO LLP.
Edinburgh had the highest occupancy in Scotland at 84.5%, while Aberdeen recorded the highest revenue, or ''rooms yield'', of any part of the UK outside London, rising 11.9% to £75.97.
Alastair Rae, a partner in the property, leisure and hospitality sector at BDO, attributed the city's success to the oil and gas sector and a growing conference market.
Revenue in Inverness was boosted by 23.1% to £48.48, said to be a result of the city hosting the Highland Baby Show and increased numbers of tourists seeking an autumn break.
Visitor numbers in the Scottish capital were also "buoyant", with Edinburgh ranked fifth in the UK for revenue levels.
Mr Rae said: "The excellent performance in the hospitality sector continued throughout the autumn, with most of Scotland producing very strong figures for the late period in the year.
"The good news is that there seems to be little sign of this level of business abating as the year drew to a close.
"The main improvement appears to be in the budget which saw strong increases in both occupancy and revenue. The premium end of the market exhibited some discounting in order to sustain occupancy levels.
"The hospitality sector is one of the key barometers of how well the economy is performing and this sustained increase in performance over 2013 indicates that things are improving.
"It seems likely, given all the recent economic data, that this will continue into 2014 when, we hope, the sector will experience one of its best years for some time."
Overall Scottish occupancy during the month was 80.9%, compared with 76.1% in England, 75.3% in Wales and 76.8% in the UK as a whole.
Revenue rose by 9.8% to £58.68, compared with £45.15 in England, £40 in Wales and £47.46 across the UK.
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