Inverness has emerged as a tourist hotspot, with the city's hotels recording "astonishing" increases in occupancy and revenue.
Year-on-year revenue, known as "rooms yield", in December rose 18% in the Highland town, according to a monthly study by accountants and business advisers PKF, while the month also saw occupancy rates rise by 29.8% compared to the same period last year.
This was compared to a 5.3% increase in occupancy across Scotland and a 1.4% increase in revenue in the same period. Glasgow recorded a 2.3% rise in occupancy and a 2.9% drop in revenue. Edinburgh's occupancy rose by 5.4% while the city's revenue was up by just 0.1%.
Alastair Rae, a partner in the real estate and hospitality sector at PKF, said: "Inverness has had an excellent year, with staycationers among the most likely reasons for its considerably improved performance compared with 2010.
"Edinburgh, whilst clearly not unaffected by the recession, appears to be weathering the economic storm better than most places in the rest of the UK. Occupancy levels for 2011 remained broadly in line with Scotland's other main cities in the mid to upper 70% range but the revenue is far ahead of anywhere in the UK outside inner London.
"This kind of performance is why Edinburgh retains the confidence of investors who have continued to seek hotel development opportunities despite the recession, which bodes well for the capital when the economy does start to recover."
Total figures for 2011 were also released which showed Scottish hotels had outstripped every part of the UK apart from London. Revenue rose by 2.6% in Scotland compared to 2010.
That compared with a revenue increase of 0.9% in the regional UK and 0.5% in England. Meanwhile, occupancy rates were up 1.7% in Scotland, compared to 1.6% in the regions of the UK, and 1.4% in England.
Reflecting on the figures, Mr Rae said: "These figures reveal a very positive performance for the hospitality sector in Scotland despite difficult trading conditions. It should be remembered that revenue growth of 2.6%, at a time when inflation has been over 4% for most of the year, means that in real terms revenue has fallen.
"But it remains a considerable achievement for the sector to produce such positive results compared to their counterparts south of the border, indicating considerable resilience in the sector.
