Scots hotels on the wane, figures reveal

The number of hotels in Scotland has fallen by 18% since 1980, according to the latest liquor licence statistics from the Scottish Executive.

The number of hotels fell by 535, from 2,959 in 1980 to 2,424 in 2002.

Over the same period the number of restaurants granted liquor licences rose from 921 to 1,453 and the number of pubs increased from 4,472 to 5,082.

Overall there are 17,059 liquor licences across the whole of Scotland, with Edinburgh accounting for 1,978 or 11.6% of the total.

The decline in hotel numbers and the increase in pub and restaurant figures is echoed in the most recent VAT registration data, which revealed a reduction of 4,175 in the number of hotels between 1994 and 2002 across the whole of the UK.

Over the same period the number of restaurants rose from 45,570 to 47,870 and the number of pubs from 44,560 to 45,615.