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Seeing the wood for the trees

A staggering 9.1 million visits are made annually to Scotland's National Forest Estate.

Date : 25/08/2014

Forestry Commission Scotland has released the findings from its second report on forest tourism. The All Forests Survey 2 was carried out between October 2012 and November 2013, the second of its kind, and reveals a shift in the trends of people who visited forests over the last decade.

Key findings

Looking at the national average, 72 percent of the forest visitors were on a walking or hiking trip, while eight percent were in the area for mountain-biking or cycling. The remainder were involved in pursuits like wildlife-watching and viewing art, picnicking or stargazing.

Holidays and short breaks

In 2007 it was all about the day trip market. Since then there has been a shift with visitors tending to stay one or more nights. Great news for accommodation providers.

Overall, the figures show locals making the bulk of visits (77 percent) followed by UK-wide residents (15 percent) and the remaining eight percent from overseas. The number of Scottish visitors has fallen from 85 percent in the 2007 survey, yet visitors coming from outside Scotland are on the increase.

However, there are some significant variations in the numbers depending on the region.

Short break breakdown

The data for people staying for more than one night breaks down to

  • Lochaber 77 percent
  • Inverness, Ross and Skye 55 percent
  • Scottish Borders 21 percent.

Most were staying in bed and breakfast, self-catering, guest-houses and camp-sites rather than hotels. This could be down to facilities (storage for muddy bikes, drying rooms, and so on) or to limited budgets, but for providers it's worth recognising their specific needs.

Local variations

When you delve a little deeper into the data you can find some interesting regional variations.

For instance, Dumfries, Galloway, and the Scottish Borders forests see more visitors from outside of Scotland – mostly English visitors. 40 percent are coming for the excellent cycling facilities on offer at the 7stanes biking centres (Glentress and Innerleithen, Glentrool, Kirroughtree, Ae, Dalbeattie, Mabie and Newcastleton). All are just a short hop across the border for English mountain bikers, which would account for the non-Scottish UK visitor percentage being much higher than the national average (33 percent as opposed to 15).

Similarly, Lochaber, where the UCI Mountain Biking World Cup is held, visitor numbers break down to 44 percent Scottish, 28 percent from the rest of the UK and 28 percent from the rest of the world (national averages 77, 15 and eight percent respectively), which shows how important the event is to the Scottish economy.

Not only that but 53 percent of Lochaber’s visitors and 41 percent of Dumfries/Galloway’s visitors are coming for the first time, compared to a 26 percent national average, so it’s worth considering how you can make sure they want to come back, by providing unique and memorable experiences.

There's a wealth of great information on forest tourism in the 'All Forests Survey 2'. It is full of insights and inspiration to help you grow your business.

You can find the full report at the Forestry Commission Scotland's website.

Links

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