London 2012 Olympics: Scotland is yet to strike gold with visitors

Published on 02/08/2012 00:00

THE Olympics effect is painting a mixed picture for Scotland, analysts and tourism chiefs said last night.

Amid signs that visitors numbers to London are down, hoteliers said they feared that Scotland would lose out on the foreign tourists who use the capital as their base
before touring the rest of the country.

In Edinburgh, James Fraser, deputy chairman of the Edinburgh Hotels Association, said: “Part of the feedback that we are getting is that people have been reluctant to travel to the UK because of the Olympics, with security issues and the price of flights into London, which is the hub airport, affecting places like Edinburgh.”

However, tourism bodies said they hoped that domestic visitor numbers would be up, particularly those from the south-east who were looking to escape the Olympic rush.

Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland: “The south-east of England is Scotland’s largest domestic market in terms of visitor numbers, and VisitScotland’s domestic campaign Surprise Yourself has been specifically up-weighted over recent months to position Scotland as the ultimate getaway destination.”