'Difficult' tourist season as Scots stay home this summer due to cost of living crisis

Scots are dropping summer day trips and short breaks across the country with the losses sharply felt in most areas as the lucrative domestic market falls away.

A ‘difficult’ tourist season is being felt across most of the country as Scots stay at home given the cost of living crisis with attractions nationwide experiencing a “quite startling” drops in visitor numbers from the lucrative domestic market.

While international visitors have made a significant comeback following the pandemic, financial pressures are leading Scots – a “cornerstone” of the country’s tourism market - to take fewer day trips and short breaks on home soil.

Areas which rely heavily on the home traveller are recording significant decreases in visitor numbers – with Perth and Perthshire noting a 75 per cent decrease at attractions in May when compared to the same month in 2019, the last 'normal’ year before the impact of the pandemic was felt, and a 19 per cent drop in June. Visitors were down 44% on the year, when looking at 2019.

Edinburgh remains resilient against cost of living pressures on travellers and retains its high allure for the international tourist, with numbers up this year. PIC: CC.

Dundee & Angus and Dumfries & Galloway, all which rely heavily on visitors from Scotland and the rest of the UK, recorded decreases of 32 per cent and 39 per cent respectively for the year to date.

Only three out of 14 traditional tourist board areas - Edinburgh & Lothian, Aberdeen & Grampian and Ayrshire & Arran - experienced a rise in visitors in June, when compared to the same month in 2019, according to separate data.

Gordon Morrison, outgoing chief executive of ASVA, which represents 240 members and more than 500 sites, said, the impact of the cost of living crisis was now being felt.

He said June visitor figures were an improvement on last year but areas which relied on domestic tourism were slower in recovering from the impact of Covid.

Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, which sits in one of Scotland's three historic tourist board areas where a rise in visitors was reported in June, when compared to the same month in 2019. PIC: longfellowelizabeth/Flickr/CC.

He added: “What is clear is that the recovery is certainly slower in some parts of Scotland than others, and particularly in those areas where domestic tourism tends to be more important.”

Mr Morrison said a “challenging picture” was in place given visitors from the US and Europe were travelling on the back of the the weak pound while those at home were having their options limited due to financial pressures.

“One common factor when we look at the domestic market, and we are talking from Scotland and the rest of the UK, is undoubtedly that people – and it has taken a while and we always feared it would happen – are being much tighter with their budgets and spending on these experiences due to the cost of living crisis.

"It is very easy to think that because we are seeing a high number of international visitors back in the country and you see hotel prices through the roof in some parts you think ‘oh tourism must be booming again’. It is absolutely not booming just now.

Dundee traditionally relies on the domestic traveller during the holiday season but is one of a number of areas across Scotland where visitor numbers are down, according to the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions. PIC: Richard Szwejkowski/Flickr CC

"That is the message that we are repeating to the Scottish Government. Don’t be fooled by international passenger numbers or think they determine tourism is doing really well. It is not.

“We are a sector that makes our money in the summer and that sees us through to winter. There is definitely concern. It is not so much concern about the now, it is about once you get into the winter – what is it going to look like for the industry?”

Edinburgh draws such as the Royal Mile attractions, Royal Yacht Britannia and St Giles’ Cathedral – all which have an almost exclusive international pull - continued to see “good figures”, while those in areas which rely on UK and Scots travellers experienced some “quite startling” losses in visitors, Mr Morrison said.

Perthshire, for example, has a particularly high reliance on Scottish visitors. In 2019, 89 per cent of visitors were from the UK market and of that, 65 per cent were from Scotland.

Perth and Perthshire typically rely on Scottish travellers during the tourist season but visitor numbers have fallen away amid the cost of living crisis. PIC: CC/Robin Fernandes.

Mr Morrison declined to share data on individual attractions but Drummond Castle said overall its visitor numbers were up on last year with a large percentage coming from overseas, many of who visit given its appearance in the Outlander series. A “marked increase” in Scottish visitors followed a feature on STV earlier this month, a spokeswoman said.

At V&A Dundee, visitor numbers sat at 30,866 for May compared to 55, 291 for the same month in 2019, the year after it opened.

Chris Greenwood, senior research fellow at The Moffat Centre for tourism research at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: "Domestic travel is a key cornerstone in Scotland’s tourism market. Typically, if you look at overnight visits in Scotland, 20 per cent are from the international market and 80 per cent are domestic. Of that 80 per cent, half are generally from Scotland.

He said “empirical evidence” showed the cost of living crisis was impacting tourism in Scotland, with research reporting in July it was the greatest barrier for people taking a day trip or short break (36 per cent).

The Moffat Centre said its figures – which cover all Scottish attractions including those represented by ASVA – showed a 1.8 per cent rise in visitors in June when compared to the same month in 2019.

A spokesman for VisitScotland said: “We’re hearing that international visits remain strong, but we know from research that the cost of living is continuing to have an impact on UK travellers. While most UK holidaymakers are favouring domestic stays over foreign trips, they are looking to cut back on spend, taking shorter trips and booking later.

“Despite these challenges, it’s encouraging that the UK Consumer Tracker shows Scotland remains the preferred UK destination outside London this summer and a favoured destination over the autumn months.

“High profile art exhibitions for Banksy and Grayson Perry, summer rugby union internationals, the staging of the Cycling World Championships and of course, the world famous Edinburgh Festivals, have also provided a welcome focus on Scotland and boost to tourism over the summer.”

“Every time visitors - whether here for a day or longer - use a restaurant, order a drink at the bar or buy a souvenir to remember their holiday experience, they are contributing to our valuable visitor economy, in turn creating jobs and sustaining communities. This is vitally important for the long-term recovery of our industry.”