Q and A: Mike Cantlay, Visitscotland

1 How confident are you about the year ahead?There will no doubt be tough times ahead as the economy recovers, however I truly believe that 2011 is the year when Scottish tourism can leverage its competitive advantage.

Tourism is one of the most competitive industries in the world, but it is easy to see why we are doing well. We have world class cities, some of the most stunning scenery in the world and a tourism industry bursting with entrepreneurs and operators who put their customer before all else.

Tourism is Scotland's most important industry, with a recent report by Deloitte placing its value at 11 billion. We have new initiatives like Active Scotland, the next step on the road to Homecoming 2014 and the perfect platform to grow tourism spend in every corner of Scotland in the run up to the staging of two of the world's greatest sporting events in 2014 - the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup.

2 Do you think the economy is out of the woods?

There will still be challenges ahead, but I'm certain that Scottish tourism is the tonic to recession. When other sectors were struggling in the worst of the recession in 2009, Scottish tourism experienced growth.

From VisitScotland's point of view, our marketing activity brings an immediate injection of tourism spend across the country, with our campaigns delivering at least 20 for every 1 we invest, and in most cases even more.

3 What challenges will 2011 hold for your business?

Tourism will be affected by many of the same challenges as other sectors, for example the severe winter weather we have been experiencing recently will have an impact on some businesses. The global economic situation may also prove challenging. However, the great news is that Scottish tourism is resilient and has proved again and again that it can bounce back from whatever comes our way.

4 What would help you overcome those challenges?

We need to be opportunistic and fleet of foot, so that no matter what the issue, we help Scottish tourism respond quickly. This year we responded to the volcanic ash cloud with a guerilla marketing campaign encouraging more Scots to holiday at home. That swift response was designed to bring 400m to Scottish tourism businesses and I'm confident that our evaluation of those marketing campaigns will show we delivered that.

5 Was 2010 better or worse than you expected?

From volcanic ash clouds to severe winter weather, Scottish tourism has had its fair share of difficult issues to contend with in 2010. But yet again, the industry has shown how resilient it is, with growth in the number of Scots holidaying at home. It will be a while before we have the full picture of how tourism has performed this year, but I know we are delivering. We generated over 70m from just one marketing initiative - our Spring/Summer Perfect Day campaign.Event tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and - through EventScotland's work in securing and supporting cultural and sporting events - the country is capitalising on this trend. Business tourism had been hit by the global economic downturn but our Business Tourism Unit reports that things are improving in 2010 and I'm confident that business tourism is on track to be a 1bn industry

6 If you could introduce or change one government policy to help your business, what would it be?

The one policy I would introduce is to encourage extensions and improvements to the VAT reclaim scheme. Many overseas visitors can claim VAT back. Encouraging more visitors to use this scheme would make Scotland more competitive still.

7 Where would you like your business to be by the end of 2011?

VisitScotland has already made a name for itself because of its expertise in destination marketing and countries around the world are looking to our quality and standards scheme as the model of excellence, with Sweden the most recent country to adopt it. I know that we have the team in place to build on these successes and continue improving in 2011.

8 What's the one item or gadget you're going to buy in 2011?

I already have an iPhone, and my next purchase will be an iPhone 4. Digital media is the key innovation in global tourism. Harnessing the power of "the app" is crucial and my hope is that visitscotland.com will create the platform to give Scotland a winning edge against our competition.

9 What's your new year's resolution?

Active Scotland starts on 1 January, so my resolution will be to get out more and enjoy Scotland. The TV series Scotland's Landscapes took my breath away and made me realise my responsibility to get my six-year-old twins out to see the best of their country.

10 Will Andy Murray win Wimbledon?

Yes. Anyone who knows me will know I'm an optimist.