THE number of hotel rooms in Glasgow occupied by visitors in August fell for the fourth month running.

However, a report from a market research specialist shows city hotels were still almost 90% full.

The monthly LJ Forecaster report shows hotel room occupancy in Edinburgh was also slightly down at a time the capital was hosting six separate Edinburgh Festival events.

City council leader Frank McAveety was upbeat about the occupancy figures for Glasgow.

He said: "Despite a marginal occupancy reduction last month when compared to August 2015, Glasgow's return was virtually the same as in Edinburgh but without the festival which shows our city's tourism appeal is year round.

"It is also notable that at 90%, it was our second highest August occupancy since records began in 1999 with nine nights in the month reaching occupancy of 95% or greater.

"Against a backdrop of growing accommodation stock, with nearly 350 new hotel rooms available per night in the city since January this year, there continues to be clear demand for hotels in Glasgow and investor confidence remains high."

The council boss said leisure and business tourism are crucial pillars of the city's economic strategy and described August as another mega month.

He pointed out that in August, Glasgow had staged flagship events such as the World Pipe Band Championships, Piping Live, the UDO World Street Dance Championships, Ignition Festival of Motoring and Summer Sessions music festival in Bellahouston Park.

Mr McAveety said: "August also brought a number of high-profile conferences to Glasgow including the International Bible Students Association's annual congress and the World Conference of the Society for Music Education which collectively attracted more than 11,000 international delegates, boosting our economy by some £4million."

Sean Morgan, managing director of LJ Research said more hotel rooms and the influence of holiday rental company Airbnb were likely to be a few of many factors to affect the market.

He added: "In August, Edinburgh hoteliers benefitted again from a premium associated with the internationally renowned festival.

"In Glasgow, a flat overall picture was evident which is by-and-large on par with the year to date trend."