Ryder Cup fans book up every hotel bed over a year before event

Thousands of Ryder Cup fans have booked almost every available bed in Perth and Kinross over a year before the event.

Inquiries for rooms were made within minutes of Gleneagles being announced as the venue, and every major hotel in the area is now completely full.

One local hotelier told The Courier he could have sold out “hundreds of times over” and that even with an additional 1,000 rooms could not have satisfied demand.

Owner of the Royal George in Perth, Eddie Anderson, said: “There are around 1,200 rooms available within the city itself and that is nothing to the Ryder Cup it’s just a drop in the ocean.

“We have been full for more than a year and the waiting list for room cancellations became so long that we just had to close it.”

Hotels across Stirlingshire and Central Scotland are also experiencing a bookings boom ahead of the Ryder Cup, which takes place from September 23 and 28 next year.

There are 12,000 tickets available for each match day but an event on this scale requires accommodation not just for spectators, many from abroad, but also for the army of volunteers and those working in hospitality at Gleneagles Hotel.