Focus must stay on attracting visitors

Published on Tuesday 22 December 2009 09:24

2009 has been quite a year. We have seen dramatic changes in the global landscape wrought by the financial crisis, recession and political turbulence. So how has tourism been doing? Philip Riddle delivers his verdict

TOURISM is one of Scotland's largest industries contributing approximately 4 billion each year to the Scottish economy and employing around 200,000 people. What makes tourism stand out most is that it is a sustainable industry, inextricably linked to Scotland's future economic development and growth. This industry has been here for hundreds of years and will be here for many years to come.

We know this is also an industry in good shape. We are outperforming tourism trends around the world – showing that Homecoming, combined with the staycation effect, the strength of the euro and the hard work of tourism businesses have all combined for this industry to ride the recession better than most.

Coupled with this, you need to get the promotion right. VisitScotland takes marketing very seriously and the results demonstrate that we get the right messages to the right people in the right places at the right times.

What has this meant for Edinburgh? We've recently launched our 2009-10 Winter White campaign and hope to better last year's efforts, which delivered additional tourist expenditure of 10 million for Edinburgh and the Lothians. Our European Touring campaign delivered an economic benefit of 12m to Edinburgh and the total to the city from international marketing campaigns was 23m.

Edinburgh has been involved in much of the marketing around Homecoming, from our Caledonia TV advert using Edinburgh Castle as a backdrop to the "I am a Scot" campaign showcasing the city and going out to 95 million people across the world. Homecoming has also been the catalyst for many events in 2009 to smash their box-office expectations.

In May, Edinburgh was the host to the Rugby Magic Weekend, with sell-out crowds and great opportunities for city businesses. Even better, the event will be in Edinburgh for the next two years.

The Royal Highland Show broke all previous attendance records in June, up more than 15,000 on 2008.

Next, we had a unique weekend of celebration with The Gathering uniting more than 47,000 Scots, those with Scottish ancestry and those with a love of Scotland. It is estimated the event delivered an economic impact of 8.8m for Edinburgh. And in August the iconic Festival Fringe saw a rise in ticket sales of nearly 20 per cent, matching other increases across the festivals generally.

These successes have also been reflected in visits to attractions being up by 4.2 per cent from January to October; Edinburgh Castle, the Scotch Whisky Experience and Camera Obscura have all recorded exceptional years.

Hotels and four and five-star guest houses have all seen increased occupancy throughout the year and Edinburgh Airport is now the UK's fastest growing airport, with over 9 million passengers in the last 12 months, up 4.8 per cent on last year. Importantly, this has all encouraged investment to continue and we have seen new developments like Hotel Missoni and Apex Waterloo Place opening in the last year.

So what will 2010 bring? We have a wonderful country and a tremendous capital city and one of the great things about 2009 has been the rise in the number of Scots taking time out to explore and rediscover our native land. I hope and expect to see this trend continuing. Edinburgh is in the perfect position to capitalise on this.

We are also very well placed for the rest of the UK market and western Europe, being easy to get to but offering a totally different experience. And, with the continuing strength of the euro, we can offer incredible value for money.

Investment will continue to be key. As well as the investment in big new projects, we must ensure money continues to flow into routine refurbishment and expansion.

One of the main highlights of Homecoming Scotland 2009 was that it saw an unprecedented mix of private, public and voluntary sector organisations unite around shared goals in the context of a national celebration. This provides a model for best practice in the way we deliver future major events and national initiatives. In Edinburgh, for example, we work closely with DEMA and the council and will continue to develop this partnership so we can pool resource where it's right to do so.

We have weathered a difficult year in 2009 and 2010 will be equally challenging. We have success and experience to build on, however. Tourism can lead economic recovery if we build on the successes of 2009 by working together, ensuring continued investment and providing a visitor experience worthy of our status as a Unecso World Heritage site.

Tourism is everyone's business; we have to share the responsibilities and reap the rewards.

Philip Riddle is chief executive of VisitScotland