Scottish Enterprise Tayside recently commissioned a report into the self catering market in Scotland.

The study was commissioned in order to establish some understanding of the scale and profile of the self catering sector, to examine the underlying trends in consumer behaviour and demand and to explore emerging product concepts and potential that may present investment opportunities for Scotland.

A number of different lifestyle trends were identified covering

• The Baby Boomer Generation,
• Generation X and
• Generation Y.

These changes in lifestyle are leading tourism consumers to seek different opportunities and the study identifies five new options for self catering provision:

• Fractional ownership,
• Private residence clubs,
• Vacation/timeshare ownership,
• Investor/condo hotels and
• Bunkhouses/hostels.

A summary of the report Opportunities in the Self Catering Market (doc 72kb)

The study was undertaken in 2 parts. The first phase carried out an audit of the existing self catering sector in Scotland. The value of this market is £297 million units excluding timeshare and university self catering, plus £36.1 million from the timeshare sector and £17.1 million from the campus style accommodation. This first report uses a range of sources and attempts to plot the sales levels achieved and model the current economic impact of the sector on the Scottish economy.

An audit of the scottish self-catering accommodation market (pdf 535kb) If this document is too large for you to download via a dial-up connection, please contact ian.reynolds@scotent.co.uk for further information.

The second phase of the report looks into the future and considers the potential new methods of providing for the demand for self catering accommodation. These new product concepts have the potential to broaden the appeal of the Scottish market to the consumer and could increase investment and tourism activity in Scotland.

A presentation of the Self Catering Accommodation Study (pdf 205kb)

The Scottish Executive Strategy “Framework for Action” has a target of doubling the turnover of tourism by 2015. Even assuming an increase in average occupancy rates of accommodation, there is some doubt as to whether there is the capacity to achieve this. This research has indicated that self catering and second homes provide a larger supply of accommodation than previously thought but it also provides an opportunity for achieving this national target, especially when demand can be so high during the peak season and there is a willingness of the big brand names to invest in this sector.

For further information, contact ian.reynolds@scotent.co.uk. or roy.kirk@scotent.co.uk.