Capital's hotels filling up faster than anywhere in UK

HOTEL occupancy in Edinburgh rose more than in any other city in the UK in April.

The city saw a 6 per cent rise compared with the same month in 2008. In London the rise was only 1 per cent.

Industry insiders in Edinburgh are confident the figures for May will be even more impressive, thanks to a number of popular events in the city.

The room occupancy rate in Edinburgh in April was 77.2 per cent, compared with a Scottish average of 71.2, which represented a drop of 2.7 per cent.

Both Aberdeen and Glasgow saw their occupancy rates dip by 10.5 and 11.1 per cent respectively. However, these were still better than the UK average of 13.5 per cent.

Alastair Rae, a partner at PKF, the firm that produces the figures, said: "Edinburgh continues to attract large numbers of tourists, perhaps encouraged by the strong dollar and euro."