Spear heads call for five-star Highlands connectivity
Broadband and mobile phone coverage in the Highlands and Islands should be improved faster to match the modern-day quality of tourism businesses in the area, according to a leading restaurateur.
Scottish Food Commission chair Shirley Spear said connectivity is now one of the biggest challenges facing the tourism industry in meeting customer demands.
“As visitors’ expectations have rapidly grown, the region risks losing business to other parts of Scotland and elsewhere because of connection problems,” said the founder and director of the world-famous Michelin-starred restaurant The Three Chimneys in Skye.
Mrs Spear said: “You can’t do without it now, from the perspective of the visitor and also from the perspective of the people who are asked to run their businesses in a professional manner.”
The former Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards (HITA) Ambassador of the Year was speaking to promote this year’s HITA awards, entries for which close on Saturday (June 6). She credits awards schemes like HITA with helping raise standards and promote businesses.
Mrs Spear said successive governments and agencies like VisitScotland had helped tourism businesses to drive up standards and services, but more has to be done to improve communications technology, especially for rural areas which are more dependent on reaching and attracting visitors.
She said broadband coverage at her own internationally-renowned restaurant near Dunvegan is intermittent and many other tourism operators have similar problems in the Highlands and Islands.
“Our tourism businesses are encouraged to be five star, upmarket and special, but in many respects we do not get the back-up we need. It is the biggest appeal I’m making at the moment – it’s all very well having terrific encouragement from the public agencies, but they are the people who have command over the issues like connectivity, as well as things like transport and housing, we need bigger and wider support now.”
