TRUMP Turnberry has posted millions of pounds of losses for the fourth year in a row.

However, the £3.4m loss for 2017 did improve on the previous year - when a major refurbishment saw losses of £17.6m.

The development, purchased in 2014, saw turnover almost double from £8.85m in 2016 to £15.237m in 2017.

In the Turnberry accounts, director Eric Trump said that 2017 was the ‘first full year of operations for Turnberry under Trump Hotels ownership.

He said that the resort had been ‘comprehensively redeveloped’ but retained its history.

He added that his hopes were high for the future and that “we feel the venueis well placed to become Scotland’s leading destination of weddings conferences and events."

Mr Trump also accepted the risks the resort faces, including adverse weather conditions, cus t omer demand for luxury travel and the general competitiveness of the market.

“Having seen a decline in turnover of 22% in 2016, due to the resort only being open for six months, 2017 saw an increase in revenue year-over-year of 70%.

“Turnberry already won Scottish Hotel of the Year at the recent Scottish Hotel Awards 2015 and has also received national awards for luxury hotel, golf hotel and events hotel of the year.

“The directors believe the at the resort will return to profitability in the short to medium term.”

Despite these positive noises, some have questioned the future of the resort.

In the influential New Yorker Magazine earlier this year, finance writer Adam Davidson raised the matter of the spend on Trump Turnberry.

He wrote: “The Turnberry has been losing an astonishing amount of money, including twenty three million dollars in 2016. The Trump Organization argued that these losses were the result of being closed for several months for repair.

“However, revenue for the months it was open were so low—about $1.5 million per month—that it is hard to understand how the property will ever become profitable, let alone so successful that it will pay back nearly three hundred million dollars in investment and losses.”