Edinburgh

Thought you would be glad to hear that the tourism industry in Scotland's capital has been given a major boost after it emerged the number of hotel rooms sold last month soared by ten per on the previous year. Some 68 per cent of all rooms in hotels in edinburgh were said to have been sold throughout December with a hike in bookings more than making up for hoteliers having to cut some of their rates. The average value of rooms, a key indicator for the industry, rose from L51.33 in December 2008 to L54.97, an increase of seven per cent. The figures, produced by Lynn Jones Research, also reveal that 97 per cent of rooms were filled in Edinburgh over Hogmanay, up from 96 per cent last year. This was despite the number of tickets for the city's Hogmanay street party being cut from 100,000 to 80,000. Not bad during a recession.

(United Kingdom)