US golfers and ‘coolcations’ push up Scotland vacation prices
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British tourists are seeking cooler domestic breaks, or “coolcations”, to avoid the heat waves in parts of England.
PHOTO: VISIT SCOTLAND
- Hotel prices in rural Scotland rose 9.2 per cent to over £167 (S$289) per night, driven by strong demand from US golfers and British tourists seeking cooler "coolcations".
- Scotland’s attractions like golf, whisky, castles, and improved airport links are drawing more American visitors, boosted by celebrity endorsements such as LeBron James.
- Booking patterns have shifted with shorter lead times, and the broader UK hospitality sector has benefited from the rise in demand for cooler domestic holiday spots like Scotland.
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Hotel rooms in rural Scotland have surged in price over the summer, the latest sign of growing interest from American tourists and domestic travellers seeking “coolcations”.
The average daily rate of a hotel room there rose 9.2 per cent in the three months through July from 2025. according to data from CoStar Group. That is the fastest growth of any rural British holiday destination.
The cost of a night’s stay there climbed to above £167 (S$289) in July, making it by far the UK’s priciest rural location of the regions analysed.
The data show how Scotland is benefiting from a surge in interest from travellers at home and abroad. The country’s historic golf courses, whisky, castles and lochs are drawing US visitors, helped by better airport connections.
Meanwhile, British tourists seeking cooler domestic breaks, or “coolcations”, to avoid the heatwaves in parts of England are also driving demand.
“You are seeing people choosing to come to somewhere that gives them the same kind of experience at the seaside and rural coastal locations, but without the intense heat that you’re getting in the south of the country or southern Europe,” said Kate Nicholls, chief executive officer of lobby group UK Hospitality.
Celebrity endorsements are also boosting tourism in Scotland. Basketball star LeBron James recently hailed it as “God’s country” after a golfing trip to a 400-year-old castle in the Highlands.
Phil Scott, managing director of Links House at Royal Dornoch, a five-star boutique hotel in the Highlands popular with American golfers, said it was experiencing the highest occupancy in his seven years at the property.
Trips to the region, he said, are resonating with tourists seeking a “little bit more of an escape” from higher temperatures farther south.
Elsewhere, to the southwest of Scotland, the five-star Knockinaam Lodge hotel in Dumfries and Galloway suffered an “incredibly difficult year” in 2025 when it generated little profit, according to general manager Callum McCann.
“But this year has been totally different,” he said in an interview. “We’ve had a lot more bookings.”
People are leaving it much later to book, with lead times falling to two weeks this summer from roughly two months previously, McCann said.
The broader British hospitality industry has thrived this summer. Strong performances from the accommodation and amusement and recreation sectors were among the reasons why the UK economy grew unexpectedly in June.
The increase in “coolcations” is a factor in the rising demand for destinations like Scotland, said Cristina Balekjian, CoStar’s senior director of UK hospitality analytics. Hotels in Edinburgh and Glasgow have also performed well in recent years, she added.
“It definitely doesn’t take away from the fact that people will still want the sun and sea and beaches and everything,” she said. “But it’s definitely the trend that more people are gravitating towards these cooler destinations as well, and in Scotland, for example.” BLOOMBERG
