Scottish B&Bs feel Olympic effect with tourist dip

LUXURY bed and breakfasts suffered a fall in visitor numbers, partly due to competition from the London Olympics, new ­figures show.

Top-end establishments in Scotland suffered a 12 per cent dip in 2012 compared to the previous year, according to Scotland’s Best B and Bs – an umbrella organisation of almost 100 four- and five-star establishments. The group said UK visitors stayed at home to watch the Games on television, while overseas tourists travelling to watch the event remained south of the Border.

The claims mirror figures released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this year which showed that both the number of nights visitors spent in Scotland between July and September, and spending by tourists in the same period, plummeted.

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People just didn’t come full stop,” said Janet Crawford, chairwoman of Scotland’s Best B and Bs. “They came over to the Olympics, but didn’t travel further afield. We knew that was going to be the case – people cannot spend their money twice.”

VisitScotland claimed prior to the Games that Scotland could benefit from both holidaymakers and business travellers migrating north from London to escape the frantic activity surrounding the Games. It said it had marketed the country as that kind of getaway the previous year.

Ms Crawford said bed and breakfast owners in more remote parts of Scotland fear the same will happen when the Commonwealth Games are held in Glasgow in 2014.

“I believe it will be the same with the Commonwealth Games,” she said. “People will visit the Games, but the money will stay in Edinburgh and Glasgow as few will venture further afield.”

She said an early Easter in 2013 had also deterred visitors from booking holidays north of the Border.

“I don’t think this year is going to be much better than last year,” she added. “People are being very careful with their money and are leaving booking holidays until very last minute.”

Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, who claimed prior to the Games that the event was a “once in a lifetime opportunity for Scotland”, admitted that the event could have had an adverse effect on the B&Bs.

“Last summer was undoubtedly challenging for Scottish tourism, due in no small part to the poor weather in many parts of the UK affecting people’s holiday decisions, continuing economic uncertainty and the Olympics possibly impacting 
on domestic visits outside of London,” he said.

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“We’re in a fantastic position to win back growth across the board as we prepare to welcome the world in 2014, with two of the biggest global sporting events – the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup – and a second Year of Homecoming 
set to boost the industry.”