Staycationers make up for overseas fall

“STAYCATIONING” holidaymakers rescued Scotland’s tourism industry last year after a drop in the number of overseas visitors.

International visits to Scotland fell 4 per cent, with the amount tourists spent dropping by 6 per cent in the first three quarters of 2011. However, the number of visitors from across the UK rose by 10 per cent, with the amount they spent up 21 per cent.

The boom helped the amount generated for the industry in the first nine months of 2011 leap by 11 per cent compared with the year before. The total number of visitors was up 8 per cent, to just over 12 million.

Tourism minister Fergus Ewing said: “These figures are encouraging and an excellent demonstration of the resilience of Scotland’s tourism industry.

“The staycation market is continuing to boost visitor numbers. An 18 per cent increase in visitors from North America is extremely welcome and evidence that this market is continuing to pick up. This is off-set by an overall fall of four per cent in the number of international visitor, but we have to remember that tough times in the eurozone will have had an impact.”