OP-ED: Stop the scapegoating: Highlands tourism needs facts not finger-pointing
By Fiona Campbell, CEO of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC)
In recent weeks, calls have grown louder to ‘get tough on Highland second homers’.
As a headline, it’s catchy. As a policy position, it risks being disastrously misdirected.
And as a narrative, it is deeply disappointing - not least because it continues to conflate second homes with self-catering accommodation, two entirely different categories of property with very different impacts.
Related article:
Second-homers in Highlands are hollowing out communities
Which parts of the Highlands have the most second homes?
This confusion isn’t just a technicality. It’s a fundamental misunderstanding that threatens one of the Highlands’ most important economic sectors.
While the frustration around empty homes and housing availability is understandable, blaming Scotland’s short-term let (STL) sector for the housing crisis is factually incorrect and politically unhelpful.
Let’s be clear: self-catering units are not second homes.
Second homes are typically used infrequently and lie dormant for most of the year.
In contrast, self-catering units are legally defined commercial businesses.
These properties must be made available to let for at least 140 days and actually let for a minimum of 70 days per year.
They are subject to planning controls, licensing requirements, and rigorous safety standards. And crucially, they serve paying guests - not absentee owners.
So what’s really at stake when the lines are blurred?
According to recent research from BiGGAR Economics, the short-term let sector contributes nearly £1 billion to Scotland’s economy every year, with the Highland region alone accounting for a staggering £200 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) and supporting 6,786 jobs.
In fact, the Highlands now contribute a larger share to Scotland’s STL economic impact than Edinburgh — a remarkable testament to the power of rural tourism.
And yet, self-catering operators find themselves in the crosshairs of poorly informed policy rhetoric.
The truth is stark: self-catering businesses account for just 0.8% of Scotland’s total housing stock, while long-term empty homes account for 3.6%.
In every single local authority area - including the Highlands - inactive, underused housing presents a more urgent challenge than legitimate, productive visitor accommodation.
Why, then, are we not focused on bringing empty properties back into use, investing in new affordable housing, or rethinking flawed regulatory schemes that are driving operators out of the market?
Because blaming short-term lets is easier. It’s a simple story to tell, even if it’s the wrong one.
But let’s not forget what’s really at risk.
Behind every rural self-catering unit is a person - a small business owner trying to make ends meet in an increasingly hostile policy environment.
Many are lifelong locals, contributing to their communities, employing local cleaners, tradespeople, and housekeepers, and generating year-round visitor spend that sustains village shops, pubs, and activity providers.
Strip away these businesses, and you don’t get affordable homes.
More likely, you get disused buildings, lost jobs, and a serious blow to the local economy.
As the BiGGAR report starkly warns: you can’t solve a housing crisis by creating a tourism one.
We urgently need a more balanced and evidence-led conversation - one that separates the issue of second homes from the entirely distinct reality of self-catering accommodation.
We call on Highland Council and the Scottish Government to acknowledge this difference and work with us to craft thoughtful, proportionate solutions that protect both housing and tourism - not pit them against one another.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with MSPs, local councillors, and community stakeholders to present the full picture and avoid the unintended consequences of blunt policy tools and misleading headlines.
Let’s fix the housing crisis.
But let’s do it with facts, not finger-pointing.
Fiona Campbell has been CEO of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) since 2015, has been instrumental in driving the substantial growth of the organisation, which now represents over 1700 members across Scotland.
In an ever-changing tourism landscape and as more and more legislation, regulations and business expenses appear on the horizon, as well as the challenges resulting from increasingly stringent global short-term let regulations, the ASSC finds itself increasingly politically engaged on a national and European level.
Ms Campbell works with key industry groups and stakeholders to support the representation that puts the ASSC at the forefront of the Scottish tourism industry.
