Strive to give our visitors a better tourism experience
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TOURISM is arguably the most important business for Scotland. As Minister for Tourism, I am ultimately responsible for the success of this vital industry.
Visitscotland is the body whose job it is to support the sector and grow visitor numbers. It has swept the board with awards of late, beating off the competition in England.
I am pleased about that!
It has achieved great success in return on investment of the money it has spent in marketing – indeed, they claim that for every pound spent, £20 is returned for the industry.
And Mike Cantlay, the chairman of Visitscotland, showed me a recent newspaper article which indicated that this is also the view of a pretty important person: President Obama.
He argued that the return from spend in tourism in the USA is also a ratio of twenty to one.
But, we always must listen and respond to what we hear “on the ground.”
There are probably more and a greater variety of people working in tourism in this part of Scotland than anywhere else. We have in Badenoch and Strathspey a vast array of different types of attractions for visitors.
Just think of the Cairngorm Funicular Railway, Landmark Forest Adventure Park, the Highland Wildlife Park, the Strathspey Steam Railway, the Clan MacPherson Museum, Dalwhinnie and Tomatin distilleries – and many, many more.
Underpinning it all is the magnificent landscape, and the proud heritage history and culture of a nation.
So, I hope that those involved in the business locally and nationally will offer criticism, advice and help – and in order to reach out to those involved, I have determined to visit all parts of the country to do just that.
Now that our parliament is in recess, I have made a start. Over the past weeks, I have visited tourist businesses and attractions in Orkney, St Andrews, Peebles and Glentress and Torridon.
I saw in Orkney the improved visitor centre – a beautiful building – welcoming, interesting and accessible in the heart of Kirkwall. In St Andrews, I spoke to a hotelier who is working with others to boost the visitors to Fife, to play on one of over 40 golf courses.
In Peebles I opened a new visitor centre on the High Street, which may be a first of its kind. It combines under one roof, in one shop, the tourism visitor centre and the council service point.
Therefore it is shared by council staff, helping the public with queries about council services, and the Visitscotland staff who are helping visitors with their enquiries about accommodation and local attractions and facilities.
Thus it shares the costs – the overheads of running the office.
I am sure that this is a very sensible financial arrangement, but it also brings together both visitors and locals.
In Glentress, I visited the marvellous new Forestry Commission centre café and the bike shop, which serve the vibrant mountain biking centre there.
In Torridon, I saw the refurbished Torridon Hotel and Lodge, with five-star accommodation, and marvellous views on to the mountains which are amongst the sheerest in the land.
What binds all of these different parts of Scotland, offering a huge variety of things to do and see, is one common feature which must surely be at the heart of our industry: a helpful and friendly people.
In one sense, we are all unofficial ambassadors for Scotland. Here in Badenoch and Strathspey, we are at the centre of this national diplomatic effort. Why else would the Tartan Army make Aviemore their official World Cup headquarters?
One key area which needs to be improved is the way that the public sector in its wider sense responds to the needs of the tourist sector, and indeed wider business.
That is the way in which the regulatory bodies in Scotland, SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage and planning in local authorities and the Cairngorms National Park Authority responds to the needs of business.
This is an area which takes up much of my time, effort and energy and to which I will return, in this column and this paper.
