Nature tourism urged to live up to its money-spinning potential

While Easto may believe “nature-based tourism” is a broad church – encompassing everything from hill walking and wildlife watching through to white-water rafting and rock climbing – he thinks his colleagues in the industry need to change their mindset and stop “navel gazing”.

On Tuesday, he will use his keynote speech at trade body Wild Scotland’s annual conference in Perth to challenge members not to think of outdoor activities as a “niche” sector but instead as a money-spinner in their own right.

He says the sector needs to dispel the myth that nature tourism is just an add-on to other forms of holiday, when instead it’s a major reason why many tourists visit Scotland.

“Nature-based tourism isn’t about high-volume, it’s about high-value,” says Easto.

“Overseas tourists spend an average of about £68 a day while they’re in Scotland but someone taking part in an organised wildlife watching activity could spend that on a day’s guided tour, even before you take into account accommodation or meals.”

Easto cites a report published last year by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), which showed nature-based tourism is worth £1.4 billion to Scotland’s economy each year, compared with £4bn for the tourism industry as a whole.

The sector accounts for the equivalent of 39,000 full-time jobs – spread across adventure activities, field sports, walking and wildlife watching – with the wider holiday industry employing some 200,000 people.

Easto, who sits on the advisory board of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), will also issue a rallying call for tourism businesses to band together and promote Scotland on a global basis.

“The competition isn’t the guy down the road – it’s coming from overseas,” said Easto. “Businesses back marketing campaigns for Scotland as a destination. There’s talk of making Scotland the new Switzerland.”

He said members also needed to have their say on a structural framework being written by Wild Scotland, which will shape the future of the sector for the next ten years and could have a wider impact on the rest of the industry, as the Scottish Government draws up its strategy for tourism.

His comments come as figures due to be released at the conference show the season hadn’t been as bad as had been first feared.

A balance of +12 per cent of Wild Scotland members reported that business had been better in 2011 compared with 2010, turning around the previous year’s figure when a balance of -4 per cent had reported that business was getting worse.

Caroline Warburton, manager of Wild Scotland, said: “Feedback from the nature-based tourism sector about the season gives us grounds for optimism in the coming year however we cannot afford to be complacent.

“There are hundreds of operators across the country. However, only by working together can we really make a difference and put Scotland on the map for adventure tourism.”