Grim view of Scottish tourism industry

SCOTTISH tourism is being let down by poor-quality service, run-down accommodation and too many business owners who are “in it for themselves”, industry leaders have warned.

Ahead of Scottish Tourism Week, which starts today, senior figures have warned that urgent action is needed to change the image of tourism as a “subservient” career.

Guest-house and B&B owners have been accused of using their businesses as extra pension pots to fall back on. Toilet facilities in pubs and bars have been branded embarrassing. And there are concerns many hoteliers may cut back on investment and training in the next couple of years in order to survive.

Plans are expected to be revealed this week that would see the private sector effectively “take control” of future strategy for the industry.

The move has emerged after a Holyrood report branded long-standing official tourism targets as unrealistic.

The head of the Scottish Tourism Forum, which is organising the annual initiative to showcase the industry, also claims the majority of businesses saw profits slide last year as consumer confidence dropped while fuel costs and VAT bills soared.

Scottish Tourism Week, which will include a major conference and gala dinner, is being held against a mixed backdrop of gloom, uncertainty and optimism.

While the so-called “staycation” effect saw the number of visitors to Scotland rise 8 per cent last year, to 12 million, international visits were down 4 per cent, while the amount overseas guests spent was down 6 per cent.

There are high hopes that Scotland will benefit hugely from an influx of extra visitors when the Olympics are held in London, with the Scottish Government instigating a year-long arts and creative industries showcase that will include several major “Cultural Olympiad” events.

However, industry leaders have warned that consumer and business confidence is still on the slide and could leave a long-term legacy.

Concerns have been expressed that the standards on offer may decline as business owners battle to stay open.

It emerged last month that one of Scotland’s leading luxury hotels, Cromlix House in Dunblane, had closed its doors, leaving dozens of guests who had paid deposits out of pocket.

But Crieff Hydro’s chief executive, Stephen Leckie, the current chair of the Scottish Tourism Forum, said many of the biggest problems were at the lower end of the sector. He wants VisitScotland to be given extra resources for marketing, but to concentrate its efforts there, rather than still be responsible for regulating tourism businesses.

“The biggest issue for the industry is the lack of consistency and often poor quality of service that we offer in Scotland at certain levels,” he said.

“The problem at the moment is we have a quality assurance scheme in Scotland that is run by VisitScotland but is not compulsory. That needs to change if we are to improve the quality of much of the accommodation.

“The offer in many of Scotland’s B&Bs and guest houses is just not good enought. A big problem is a lot of business owners are putting off investment in improvements until the economy improves.

“You only have to go into a pub toilet in some of our best-known areas in the Highlands to see how bad the experience can be. You wouldn’t take your mother into some of them, it is embarrassing. We are giving people a bad customer experience in these places.

“Far too many people still see running a hotel or guest house as something to do when they retire so that they can live happily ever, after and we have to get away from that.”

Mr Leckie said many of his members were facing a perfect storm of problems, which he says saw most of them lose money last year compared with 2010.

Willie Macleod, executive director of the British Hospitality Association in Scotland, said the current economic circumstances meant businesses had to be a lot more careful about what they had been spending over the past few years.

“Things are very tough at the moment,” he said.

Colin Paton, chief executive of the Portland Hotels group and chair of the Edinburgh Hotels Association, said a major problem was that in Britain being a part of the tourism industry was not generally considered a “valuable and worthwhile career”.

“There seems to be a whole different ethos with people from central and eastern Europe, but in this country people still see jobs as being somehow too subservient,” he said.