HebCelt is to launch a Facebook accommodation page to help cope with demand from visitors for this year’s festival.
Appeals for extra accommodation have been necessary in past years of the festival, but never this early in the year. However, tickets are selling at their fastest ever rate and organisers are seeing a subsequent surge in demand for places to stay. The re-launched Facebook Accommodation page will enable awareness raising of the issue and allow accommodation providers in the area to flag up any capacity they have.
With people from around the world keen to celebrate HebCelt’s 25th live event in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis from 13-16 July 2022, it is expected that this year’s event will reach record attendances. Demand is only expected to continue rising, especially with the news that two cruise ships with hundreds of visitors are expected to arrive in Stornoway during the festival. Organisers say this pent-up demand continues to aid the event’s bounce-back from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Depute Festival Director, Graham MacCallum, said: “We are delighted to be seeing such great demand for this year’s event. We can’t wait to welcome regulars and new visitors alike back to HebCelt.
“The demand really is unprecedented, even when measured against past very successful years of the festival. It is not uncommon for us to look for extra accommodation capacity but it is unusual to be making that call this early in the year. It is one of those challenges that you welcome as it stems from good news and we hope our Facebook accommodation page, and our close work with our partners in the local VisitScotland team, will help ease the issue. We are appealing to anyone who has spare capacity for the festival week to let us know, so that we can help to place the many visitors we will have arriving.”
Victoria Harvey, VisitScotland Development Manager for the Outer Hebrides said: “It is so exciting and encouraging to see the return of HebCelt this year, even more so with the considerable demand for tickets and of course for somewhere to stay. We know that enquiries for accommodation during this busy period have been rising and it is great to see organisers making use of social media to help visitors and locals find accommodation. I encourage any and all accommodation providers to utilise this resource to fill rooms safely and responsibly.”
Facebook page www.facebook.com/groups/HebCeltAccommodation