Recent years have seen Scotland.doc

Recent years have seen Scotland’s tourism industry maintain its position as a key contributor to the nation’s economy, generating an annual visitor spend in excess of £4.5bn.

These same years however, have also seen visitor expectations grow ever more sophisticated with a shift away from individual tourism attractions towards more rounded experiences, delivered to a consistently high quality at each point of the customer journey.

The opportunity for Scotland, if we’re to accelerate growth and get as close to our full potential as possible, is to up our game collectively and turn our nation’s many tourism assets into quality, authentic visitor experiences – inspiring our industry strategy, Tourism Scotland 2020.

At a glance

Page

Foreword

Stephen Leckie, 2 Chair of the Tourism Leadership Group & Scottish Tourism Alliance

Tourism Scotland 2020

Today’s industry 4

Tomorrow’s opportunity 6

Playing to our strengths 8

Priorities for action 12

Measuring our success 16

Our industry, in our hands 18 2

Foreword

“Tourism Scotland 2020 is a strategy for the industry, by the industry. It’s the product of extensive consultation, led by the Tourism Leadership Group (TLG), and it’s the means by which the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) will lead the many different businesses and stakeholders across the sector to deliver one common goal for 2020 and beyond. Making Scotland a destination of first choice for a high quality, value for money and memorable customer experience, delivered by skilled and passionate people.

“As strategies go it’s ambitious – just as we are – yet it’s realistic too, based on the collective input of private and public sector; thorough research into consumer trends, our tourism industry and international tourism destinations; and careful analysis of the best available market forecasts.

“Driven by the need to adapt to a changing industry and uncertain economic climate, it provides a snapshot of where we currently stand, the step changes we need to bring about in order to fully capitalise on our assets, the potential financial rewards when we do and the priorities for action.

“At the heart of the strategy is growth via quality, authentic visitor experiences. In other words, highlighting those aspects of our assets that are uniquely Scottish, be they contemporary Scotland or more traditional, and delivering them to the highest possible standard at each and every point of the customer journey.

“Leading delivery and providing a strong industry voice throughout will be the STA. Equally critical however, is that each and every one of us within the industry rallies round the strategy, embracing the common agenda it sets out, giving it our full support and taking the initiative in our own areas.

“Much has been done in recent years to make more of Scotland's tourism assets at a local level through destination groups and with the support of local authorities. We need to build on this as a collective, sharing experiences and good practice more widely across destinations. 3

“Completing the picture we need the support of Scottish Government and public sector agencies too, aligning their tourism activities with our industry strategy.

“Then, and only then, will we set ourselves on course to achieving our vision for 2020 and beyond: Scotland – a destination of first choice.

“Thank you to everyone who has given their time and energy so far to help shape the strategy. I look forward to working with you all on the detailed action plan that will follow on from it and the delivery of that plan at business, local and national level.”

Stephen Leckie, Chair of the Tourism Leadership Group & Scottish Tourism Alliance 4

Today’s industry

Without doubt, tourism is one of Scotland’s key economic contributors with overnight visitors generating in excess of £4.5bn annually and day visitors contributing a further £6.2bn, giving a total spend close to £11bn (2011 figures).

Not only that but tourism accounts for over 200,000 jobs – many in rural areas, helping less populous communities to prosper – across 20,000 different tourism-related businesses, while also feeding into other sectors such as food and drink, retail, transport and construction.

Scotland’s special appeal Drill down further and the appeal of Scotland’s mainland and islands can be largely attributed to four groups of assets.

Nature, heritage and activities With dramatic landscapes and seascapes, a rich and colourful history, and vibrant culture, Scotland serves as a truly unique backdrop for holidays and short breaks, offering visitors a wealth of things to see and do: golf, walking, wildlife-watching, adventure sports, visiting castles and historical sites, to name just a few.

Destination towns and cities Our destination towns such as St Andrews, Pitlochry and Oban, along with our internationally-renowned cities including Edinburgh and Glasgow, hold great appeal for leisure and business travellers alike, whether as destinations in their own right or as bases from which to explore our wider visitor offer.

Events and festivals International attractions including the Edinburgh Festivals, high-profile events such as the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and Year of Homecoming, or smaller, local initiatives like the Tiree Wave Classic that help to extend the tourism season – Scotland’s events and festivals add to the uniqueness of the experiences on offer.

Business tourism With our quality venues and facilities, a proven track record in staging major conferences and exhibitions, not forgetting plenty to see and do out of working hours, Scotland is a popular destination amongst business tourists. 5

All of which contribute to our brand essence as being a “dramatic, enduring and human” destination.

It’s not just our tourism assets that set us apart but our people too, with the renowned pride and friendliness of our nation earning us a reputation for being a very welcoming destination. So far, so positive.

Where we could do better Customer feedback tells us that there are also areas in which we could be doing better. In particular, by addressing variations in quality when it comes to accommodation, eating out, travelling to and around Scotland, and internet and mobile phone coverage.

Each of these has an important role to play in shaping visitor impressions, with today’s travellers expecting a high level of service at each and every turn. Yet in Scotland, we’re told, quality still varies from one provider to the next. We need to act now and we need to act together – the more of us that do, the greater the likelihood of Scotland encouraging visitors to return again in the future and recommend us to others.

That’s not the only area in which we need to up our game. Increasingly, visitors are seeking more rounded experiences with a variety of things to see and do. Our international research shows that competitor destinations have been quick to respond, integrating their efforts across their respective industries to offer experiences that are tailored to visitors’ personal interests.

Scotland, on the other hand, has still to react as a collective. We need to think not just about what our own individual businesses can offer, but also the way in which other attractions, activities and places to eat and drink might make visitors’ stay all the more enjoyable – and be in a position to recommend local providers who can be relied on to deliver.

Changing with the times So what does this tell us as an industry? It tells us that there is much work to be done if we are to meet visitor expectations of a consistently high level of quality and customer service. It tells us that whilst we have in our favour some fantastic tourism assets, we are not maximising our potential – we are focusing too intently on our individual businesses and products, and not enough on customers’ overall experiences. And it tells us that we have to work together more at business, local and national level to start shaping Scotland’s many different assets into the authentic experiences that visitors are seeking. 6

Tomorrow’s opportunity

Despite 2011 delivering an encouraging improvement on 2010 with overnight visitors increasing by 9% and a similar increase in real terms spend, longer term performance has been more modest.

In fact, if the long-term trend in overnight visitor spend witnessed since 1973 was to continue, we would see little or no real growth in the coming decade – a reflection of increasing costs, new competitor destinations and the fact that Scotland is a mature tourism destination operating largely in well-established markets such as Western Europe and North America.

Add to this the realisation that opportunities in emerging markets will naturally take some time to produce notable results, along with the continuing economic uncertainties facing our traditional markets, and the long-standing picture doesn’t look set to change any time soon. Unless that is, we as an industry change.

Fresh focus, new goals What is our potential for growth if we do change? Using forecasts by internationally recognised experts Tourism Economics as the best available indicator of our full potential, and official long-term tourism statistics as the baseline, our ambition for the industry as a whole is to break from the status quo and achieve an annual visitor spend of between £5.5bn and £6.5bn by 2020. This would generate an additional £1bn or more (at 2011 prices).

While this ambition does take into account the fact that different opportunities and challenges exist for different parts of the tourism industry, it is not without risk or uncertainty. But it does indicate just how much growth is possible – if, as we hope, the economic trend reverts to one of global growth and if we collectively get right the factors that are within our control.

Our growth markets So where does the greatest potential for growth exist? Forecasts indicate that three main pillars will account for most of our visitor spend in 2020, just as they do now:

Home turf: £3,127m in 2011, potential £3,586m–£4,238m in 2020 England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales

Near neighbours: £731m in 2011, potential £875m–1,035m in 2020 Scandinavia, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy 7

Distant cousins: £414m in 2011, potential £505m–£598m in 2020 USA, Australia, Canada

In addition to these main pillars of growth, we will also step up our efforts in the emerging markets. Whilst growing strongly globally, they are unlikely to deliver significant returns for Scottish tourism in the short to medium-term, due in part to challenges posed by transport links and visa requirements:

Emerging markets: £33m in 2011, potential £70m–83m in 2020 India, China, Russia, Brazil

Longer term however, their contribution to Scottish tourism does look set to grow more markedly. If we want to be in a position to service and capitalise fully on these and other emerging markets we need to act now by aligning our tourism offer with what our market intelligence tells us about them.

A balanced portfolio Combined, these markets add up to a balanced portfolio based on our greatest growth potential but one that also gives us the flexibility to adjust our plans in the event of any significant market changes.

Ambitious? Undoubtedly. Achievable? Yes, if we build our capabilities and if we play to our collective strengths. 8

Playing to our strengths

Key to us achieving our growth ambitions will be turning Scotland’s tourism assets into the more rounded, added value experiences that today’s visitors want.

It’s a change in focus and approach that needs to happen at two levels: within assets and across assets.

Developing our assets Market analysis has identified that some assets offer significant potential for growth. Indeed, many of our main tourism destinations now have in place clear strategies for growth. For example, Edinburgh, Glasgow and their surrounding areas already account for almost £1.8bn tourism revenue per year and they have ambitions to grow this substantially.

In many of our rural destinations meanwhile, where tourism is often the mainstay of the local economy, businesses and industry groups are also working together to grow the value of tourism in their areas by making more of assets such as walking and cycling, adventure tourism, food and drink, and local history and culture.