Tourism firms must take advantage of new trends

Comment by Gareth Williams, Highlands and Island Manager, Scottish Council for Development and Industry

AT the beginning of last year, with the economy plunging into a deep recession and consumers rapidly reducing their spending, the prospects for Highland tourism appeared bleak. So it was with a degree of satisfaction that businesses at a recent SCDI seminar with Visit-Scotland chief executive Philip Riddle looked back at their 2009 performance.

Global tourism fell for the first time in years but, supported by the Year of Homecoming campaign and the weakness of the pound, Scotland held steady and the Highlands were particularly resilient. Early indications show that £44 million worth of extra Scottish tourism revenue was delivered. But, with the end of the campaign and economic recovery forecast be weak, hotels and attractions were keen to discuss what comes next.

Nairn’s success in being voted the number two destination in the world in a Trip Advisor survey of US travellers will attract North American visitors and, while the strength of the euro has fluctuated in recent weeks, holidaying in Scotland is still likely to represent excellent value for Europeans.

However, the greatest opportunity may be the rising number of Scots rediscovering their homeland.

In Switzerland, 42 per cent of tourists are Swiss, which helps raise standards, so this could stimulate investment in quality here. As Philip Riddle pointed out, if 10 per cent of our visitors spent the same as the average visitor to Switzerland, this would generate an extra £550 million.

Staycations remain a buzzword, but Philip Riddle highlighted three new trends to watch out for. “X-factor destinations” – travel to the settings for films, books and TV programmes; “Chadventures” – for those who embark on an adventure while raising money for charity; and “Traincations” – often because journeying by rail is regarded as more sustainable.

The Highlands already have competitive advantages, with the location for classic stories and also our world-famous railways. We also have the Highlands and Islands Film Commission working to attract new productions and HITRANS, promoting public transport.

And towards the end of this year the Highlands will host the world’s largest gathering of adventure tourism specialists at the seventh Adventure Travel World Summit in October.

But there are still key challenges. Although Philip Riddle identified signs of recovery, business tourism fell by 13 per cent. This is important to Inverness and SCDI members called for further support or investment for the Inverness/Highlands Business Tourism Unit.

Skills and workforce development also remain priorities. It was clear at the seminar that communication between businesses and UHI and colleges on courses should improve. Public sector budgets for tourism will be constrained in forthcoming years and VisitScotland and local destination management organisations need to work together.

All of which, raising standards, flexibility in taking advantage of new opportunities and working together to secure investment, underlines the key lesson from last year – the benefits of collaboration.

Source: inverness-courier.co.uk