Date :
27/11/2013
In the first half of this year there was an increase in the number of domestic visitors to Scotland, compared with 2012. There was also a rise in European visitors, and, for the future, visitors from China will enjoy simpler UK visa regulations.
There are more UK visitors overall coming to Scotland for leisure, however their spend is down a little. There were 5.5 million overnight trips to Scotland from other parts of Britain in the year to June. We’re also travelling around our own country more as well, with Scottish domestic tourism numbers up. Within the figures there is a change of emphasis.
A greater proportion of our UK visitors are staying in our big cities overnight, which would have been a little disappointing for some rural accommodation providers, were it not for the improved numbers overall. Figures show that occupancy levels are uniformly up across all sectors. Some regions stood out as performing better - Argyll, Loch Lomond, Forth Valley, and the Borders.
However, there are undeniably more day trips being taken into the countryside and rural towns, suggesting there’s growth available for all daytime economy sectors. The Year of Natural Scotland promotion certainly raised awareness and supported countryside tourism, including the £270m wildlife related sector.
For overseas tourism the picture is quite different. There have been marginally less foreign tourists so far this year, but this has been more than offset by a much improved spend per head during their stay. The decline seems most pronounced from traditional North American and Western European visitors, suggesting there’s growth in other markets offsetting the loss of numbers.
There’s been little change in exchange rates or other economic factors, suggesting Scotland’s intrinsic value is much improved and better appreciated by overseas visitors. Higher net worth visitors might also be encouraged by VisitScotland Business Tourism Unit, who took top honours at the recent Conference and Incentive Travel Awards.
Overall, the Scottish economy showed encouraging recovery, with retail sales in September strongly improved, year on year, by 1.8%. In other developments, low-cost carrier Jet2.com has announced plans for more flights to Glasgow, and Lerwick Port Authority is bracing for a bumper cruise year in 2014.