Creating meaningful connections between tourists and hosts is one of the characteristics of Responsible Tourism, tourism is a major part of the experience economy. Visit Scotland has had a big success with its Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder campaign, described by the Scottish Tourism Alliance as “a message of support and hope to our friends around the world and assure them that, whilst they can’t visit just now, we will still be here with a warm welcome for them when the time is right.” VisitScotland described it as “virtual hug to fans of Scotland, near and far, with a heart-warming film asking them to dream about visiting now, but to travel later.” In just five days the film reached 1.6 million people.
I can personally attest to missing Scotland – I am looking forward to visiting again. The sooner the better.
Travelling with purpose is recognised by Visit Scotland as a growing trend, and Scotland is well-positioned to take advantage of. The concept of “responsible tourism” is at the heart of the new ten-year tourism strategy developed by the industry in partnership with the Scottish Government and enterprise agencies, and announced in March. Tourism that minimises its impact on the environment respects natural assets and shores up local communities by supporting local businesses, such as arts and crafts, food and drink producers, rather than global companies.
Malcolm Roughead, just completing ten years as CEO of Visit Scotland, recognises that the pandemic has been “catastrophic” for businesses. “Tourism was the first sector to be hit and to a great extent is one of the last to come out of it.” Job losses have affected seasonal, and full-time workers and the furlough scheme has not yet ended. Roughead points to the resilience of the sector, for example, artisan food and drink producers delivering to the doorstep. Self-catering accommodation has been in high demand, and more UK residents take a staycation, VisitScotland has been promoting staycations vigorously. The Good to Go mark, which businesses can use to advertise their compliance with government Covid-19 guidelines, offers some reassurance to visitors. Roughead is optimistic, there is her argues pent up demand businesses just need support to keep going long enough for the good times to return.
Roughead believes the recovery from COVID will be important in enacting the responsible tourism vision. “The big opportunity for us is really to reset tourism,” he says. “I actually think coming out of this we can accelerate some of that activity.” More here.
There have been complaints from local communities about dirty camping around Lake Morlich and about fires, litter and even human waste at local beauty spots on the North Coast 500 route in particular, which has heavily promoted and advertised for campervan and caravan holidaymakers. Tourists are advised to stay on designated sites but inevitably not everyone complies and some behave irresponsibly. Scottish Highlands MSP John Finnie argues that “these issues require to be robustly dealt with by local authorities and the police now and a clear signal given about what responsible tourism means.”
Lord Thurso, chair of VisitScotland, has expressed confidence that there will be a “rebalancing” of tourism following the surge in post-lockdown visitors that has led to a catalogue of complaints in the Highlands and other parts of the country. “Put it this way: I think I’d rather deal with the problems of success than the problems of having no tourists.” He points out that “Many young people live in small, cramped flats and they’re desperate to get some fresh air and freedom. Normally they would probably be going on a package holiday to Spain or somewhere like that, all of which they can’t do. So you have a large number of people who have been cooped up, who are desperate to get out and about, whose normal holiday places are unavailable, and naturally they head for the hills and the coasts…. this is a particular circumstance and hopefully in future years we will see a return to more normal tourism.” “At the moment Glasgow and Edinburgh hotel occupancy is sitting at under 20 per cent. Holiday homes outside the cities are sitting at 90 per cent occupancy. Normally Edinburgh would be 100 per cent occupied.” August is Edinburgh Festival time in the UK’s second most visited city – the Festivals attract 4.5 million putting them on a par with the FIFA World Cup, both being second only to the Olympic Games.
VisitScotland’s advice on taking responsibility for tourism can be found here: businesses and tourists.
