Royal cottages will earn £130,000
THE trend for recession-busting holidays at home in Scotland has found a rather unlikely beneficiary – the Queen.
Her Majesty looks set to make a mint from the six self-catering cottages on her Balmoral estate, which are now almost fully booked from June to November.
The cottages are set to bring in at least £130,000, which will go towards the £3million annual costs of the 50,000-acre estate.
Garry Marsten, visitor enterprise manager at Balmoral, said up to 70 per cent of this year’s bookings are from UK customers, although many have been coming to Deeside for years.
He added: “This part of Scotland is beautiful and people like to take the opportunity to stay here if they can.
“Many customers are return bookers, who have been coming here maybe 10 or even 15 years. “We don’t usually sell out and always have weeks available, mainly in early December and perhaps January.”
Some cottages are not available all year round and there are restrictions while the Royal Family is in residence.
‘People want a bit of peace’
But Mr Marsten said that while having the Windsors as neighbours was a major attraction for many holidaymakers, the Highland landscape was the biggest selling point.
He continued: “Maybe 30 per cent of the people who stay in the cottages come for the salmon fishing on the River Dee or the trout fishing.
“But most of them just come to walk and cycle around the area or just to get a bit of peace and quiet. It is very tranquil over here.”
Only one of the six cottages can accommodate more guests but the choice is limited to a week in June or a week in July.
At the moment, the estate is set to make £128,579 from the rental fees but that would increase to £142,055 if the remaining weeks are sold. Most of the properties have a three-star rating, and can be booked for between £300 and £1321 a week.
The Queen usually spends August and September at Balmoral, although last year she was forced to begin her break in the seven-bedroom Craigowan Lodge as the main house was kept open to tourists for an extra week. Balmoral has more than 100 full and part-time staff, which ensures unemployment in the area is among the lowest in Scotland, and generates £13million a year for the local economy.
Tourism officials say that overall travel bookings are slightly down on last year, despite the Homecoming 2009.
