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The Herald Scotland

Arran hotel reveals Glen Sannox ferry uplift for bookings

Commenting in January on an increase in losses at Auchrannie in the year to March 2024, finance director and company secretary Colin Morrison had said: 'Probably ferries have been a bigger impact than the economic climate. There has been a lot of ferry disruption over the last few winters. It has obviously knocked consumer confidence a bit. If people have come one winter and have been hit, they are less likely to come the following winter.' Read more The Glen Sannox finally entered service between the mainland and Arran in mid-January - years later than planned following major delays and cost overruns in its construction at the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow. Asked this week by The Herald about Auchrannie's experience of the Glen Sannox since the ferry came into service, the resort's head of finance, Tom Jessop, said: 'Ferry reliability has improved significantly since Glen Sannox entered service, but the weather since then has also been comparatively favourable. 2025 occupancy and forward bookings at the resort are up 5% on last year. 'We believe this is due to improved ferry reliability and capacity, better weather conditions, and less negative press coverage, which translates to an increase in customer confidence. With all of that said, signs look good that the Glen Sannox can sail in more challenging conditions than older ferries, and this bodes well for the future.' Auchrannie Resort saw its pre-tax losses widen to £474,260 in the year to March 31, 2024, from £111,447 in the prior 12 months, partly because of increased staff and interest costs. Turnover rose marginally, from £10.44 million to £10.64m Mr Morrison in January highlighted hopes of an improvement in Auchrannie's financial performance in the year to March 2025, noting then that it was on course to be significantly better than expected, through containing costs as opposed to revenue growth.