Special events can boost our profile – but we have to act to make it work

By ROBIN WORSNOP
Published on Monday 21 November 2011 00:00

THERE is no doubt the tourism industry is facing threats at the moment.

The eurozone crisis is a huge concern in terms of the devastating impact there could be on consumer confidence and spending power of overseas visitors.

The cost of running a business is difficult for many people these days, because of things like fuel price increases and getting access to money from the banks.

We are also seeing an impact from the London Olympics in terms of a drop in the UK’s international markets for next summer, because London is pretty much full. This is potentially a major problem – you won’t necessarily see a dispersal effect if tourists can’t even get it into the UK or are finding flights are too expensive.

We need to push the messages from Scotland loud and hard – that we have no capacity issues here, and that we are a good alternative to the south of England.

Big events like the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games can be a bit distorting, but their key legacy often lies in raising a country’s profile, particularly with the visiting media.

These themed years can work when it’s about creating strong alignment within the industry and getting everyone engaged, as happened with the Homecoming campaign.

I don’t think anyone in the tourism industry is being complacent about the big events that are coming up. They do give businesses an extra opportunity.

We had a pretty successful year in 2009, whereas a lot of other countries struggled and it did seem to make a real difference when it came to our overseas markets, as they knew something special was happening in Scotland.

In many ways, this has been our year of culture, with the new Robert Burns museum opening, and the renewed National Museum of Scotland and Scottish National Portrait Gallery reopening.

Those kind of developments can have a huge impact in the image of the country as a cultural centre.

• Robin Worsnop is managing director of Rabbie’s Trail Burners, and chairman of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group.

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