Is Edinburgh in danger of killing the golden goose by pricing artists out of appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe? £500 for an overnight hotel stay is an eye-watering sum. But prices are high right across Scotland. Even in June a popular booking site had no hotel or bed and breakfast availability in the Oban and Lorn area for the entire week. A trip to Eigg earlier this month found only a couple of B&Bs for £70-£100 in the Mallaig-Arisaig area and âNo vacancyâ signs outside every camp/caravan site. Luckily, I stayed with friends whose summer months are now busy and sociable with cost-cutting visits from friends and family. When they travel elsewhere in Scotland, they do the same. Itâs a great way to live and travel â if you have a wheen of like-minded, far-flung acquaintances with plenty of space. But if you donât, the novel combination of brilliant summer weather and high staycationing demand from the rest of Britain creates a problem. Put simply, Scotland is fast becoming an impossibly expensive holiday location for folk actually living here. |