Number of hotel rooms used for international flight quarantine: FOI release

Information requested

1. How many hotel rooms the Scottish government have booked for international flight quarantining up to the end of march 2021.

2. How many rooms have been occupied each day or week or whatever data the information is recorded.

Response

1. We do not have the number of hotel rooms the Scottish Government have booked because contracts for service providers, including hotel operators, supporting the Managed Isolation programme are held by the UK Government, not the Scottish Government. Under those contracts the UK Government has arranged for a travel agent it has appointed to make block bookings with hotel operators.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

However, you might find it helpful to note that The Scottish Government keeps expected travel demand for direct arrivals in Scotland under ongoing review and advises the UK Government of any changes required to scale available capacity up or down as circumstances require. The UK Government then arranges for its appointed travel agent to change block-bookings as required.

On introduction of the Managed Isolation programme on 15 February 2021 the undernoted hotels were immediately available to receive guests:

Village Hotel, Aberdeen, 148 rooms
Doubletree by Hilton, Edinburgh Airport, 155 rooms
Holiday Inn Express, Glasgow Airport, 143 rooms

In addition, arrangements were made with the undernoted hotels to be brought into use progressively after 15/02/21:

Hampton by Hilton, Edinburgh Airport, 240 rooms
Leonardo Hotel, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, 106 rooms
The Normandy Hotel, Renfrew, 135 rooms

As part of the ongoing review of travel demand it was determined during the first week of operation of the Managed Isolation programme that capacity could be scaled down. The block-bookings for the three hotels planned to be brought into use progressively were therefore cancelled and no guests were received by those hotels at that time.

At a later date the ongoing review of travel demand determined that capacity required to be scaled up in Edinburgh, and arrangements were made for the Hampton by Hilton Hotel at Edinburgh Airport to open to receive guests from 11 March 2021. Initially this was on the basis of the Hampton by Hilton at Edinburgh Airport replacing the Doubletree by Hilton at Edinburgh Airport, with the Doubletree by Hilton no longer receiving guests from 11 March 2021. Subsequently the ongoing review identified a need for capacity to be further scaled up in Edinburgh, which was achieved by bringing the Doubletree by Hilton at Edinburgh Airport back into use to receive guests from 21 March 2021.

The Village Hotel, Aberdeen, indicated that when relaxation of restrictions permitted it wished to reopen its facilities to general users, which would mean that it could no longer continue as a quarantine hotel, as that requires exclusive occupancy of the hotel. Arrangements were therefore made for the Aloft TECA Hotel in Aberdeen, which has 150 rooms, to replace the Village Hotel in Aberdeen, with the Aloft TECA Hotel receiving guests from 20 March 2021.

In circumstances where hotels have received guests under the Managed Isolation programme but are no longer continuing to receive new guests, guests already present remain at the hotel concerned until their period of Managed Isolation is complete.

2. We do not have a record of the number rooms which have been occupied each day or week because the Scottish Government has not been collecting data on numbers of hotel rooms occupied during the period to which your request relates and therefore is not able to provide that information, rather we record the number of guests received at the hotel.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

Since the commencement of the Managed Isolation on 15 February 2021 the Scottish Government has received reports each day of the numbers of guests continuing, arriving or departing during the preceding 24hrs, and hence the total number of people in Managed Isolation as at 23:59 on the preceding day. The number of people in Managed Isolation at 23:59 each day up to 23:59 on 17 March 2021 is set out in the table below:

w/c	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
15/02/2021	11	14	23	26	45	72	104
22/02/2021	109	110	109	113	154	165	205
01/03/2021	207	216	212	191	204	205	256
08/03/2021	255	210	203	155	205	195	225
15/03/2021	226	204	208

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