Tourism data shows ScotlandвЂ™s outdoor appeal amongst UK visitors

Tap into tourism data on domestic visitors for insights on activity sports.

Date : 28/04/2014

We’ve looked at the data from Great Britain Tourism Survey for 2012 to identify visitor trends. This month we’ve focused on outdoor pursuit data, within the context of overall visitor numbers, and they’re showing positive signs and potential opportunities for further growth.

Visitor trends

While there was a drop in trips (-5 percent) and a marginal drop in spend (-0.1 percent) in all types of visits to Scotland, the figures showed an improvement for domestic holiday visits in 2013, with a 5 percent increase in UK residents visiting Scotland and an 8 percent increase in corresponding expenditure. This is taken from rolling data and shows a continuation of the trend we’ve been seeing since it began in 2012.

Rural appeal

Generally day trip figures and expenditure continued to dip slightly in 2012 and 2013 overall, but we saw an increase in both to rural areas in Scotland. Self-catering numbers saw a steady increase too in 2013, up 2 percent.

Outdoor pursuit tourism

According to UK figures from the Great Britain Tourism Survey for domestic tourism, the number of visitors who took part in outdoor activities as part of their trip increased in 2012.

The most popular activity by far is walking. Numbers are broken down into short walks (up to two miles or up to one hour) and long walks (more than two miles or more than one hour): short walks – 2.2 million, long walks – 1.8 million.

Organised adventure sports e.g. white water rafting, canyoning, sphering, gorge walking, land yachting, abseiling etc. (where participants would be guided/supervised and provided with equipment): 29,000 trips.

Other non-motorised water sports e.g. canoeing/kayaking, windsurfing, surfing, body boarding (where participants are self-guided and have their own equipment): 105,000 trips.

Mountain biking as part of a trip totalled around 178,000.

Sailing and yachting accounted for 83,000 trips to Scotland in 2012, while horse riding and pony trekking brought in 93,000 domestic visitors.

Visits mean pounds

The contribution to the tourism economy as a whole from these visitors can’t be underestimated.

People who said short walks were part of their visit spent around £572 million (whole trip spend) while those who included a long walk contributed £496 million to the economy.

Organised adventure sports visitors’ whole trip added up to £10m million, other non-motorised water sports £36 million, while mountain bikers put about £57 million into the pot.

These figures are averages calculated from the Great Britain Tourism Survey.

What does this mean for tourism businesses?

All of this shows that a significant amount of our tourism income is a result of the huge ‘playground’ we have on the doorstep. Could we, as an industry, be promoting this even more to the domestic market? Almost certainly. And that’s just the domestic market. But we have to be absolutely prepared for the increase in demand, and that’s where tourism businesses of all type and scale come in.

It’s also about capitalising on the big sporting events, such as the Cold Water Classic surfing competitions (Thurso) or the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World cup in Fort William, which draw competitors and spectators from around the world as well as the UK.

Sometimes it’s as simple as altering your business to accommodate specific needs such as secure storage, transportation, accommodation, food, and so on. Or perhaps your business could become a sponsor?

There are so many opportunities to create a more tailored service that goes above and beyond the standard offering, if you understand what to provide. Once again, doing your homework pays.