Press release -
'Berth' of a new era for Scottish marine tourism
An action plan to boost the value of Scotland’s marine tourism industry by nearly £100 million is being launched today (Friday 20 November 2015).
The Marine Tourism Symposium will see more than 120 members of the industry gather at the Scottish Parliament to hear how the Marine Tourism Strategy Action Plan could increase the value of the industry from £360m to £450m by 2020. It also aims to increase the value of sailing tourism from £101m to £145m in the next five years.
A strategic framework for Scotland’s marine tourism industry – entitled Awakening the Giant ¬¬– was launched earlier this year and today will see the announcement of the practical steps needed to make the vision a reality. This is in-line with the national tourism strategy – Tourism Scotland 2020.
The five-year strategy, developed by the marine tourism industry with the financial support of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, outlines the potential and opportunity to grow Scotland’s revenue by enhancing the world-class marine tourism destination by focusing on three key themes: “Providing Authentic Experiences”, “Improving the Customer Journey” and “Building our Capabilities”.
The steps included in the action plan include:
• Identifying infrastructure gaps in coastal facilities and cruising routes and developing identified opportunities to create an enlarged contribution from the marine sector into the Scottish Tourism Economy
• Developing a co-ordinated approach to skills development across the sector. Work is under way with British Marine Scotland, Skills Development Scotland and other educational establishments to assess requirements for training and relevant delivery of training to the sectors
• Development of Sail Scotland brand to increase awareness of world-class product via content and targeted marketing throughout marine tourism industry activity
• Collaborative marketing through Sail Scotland’s new toolkit and via VisitScotland and the marine tourism industry’s content channels
• Working with Cool Route – a European-sponsored project seeking to connect and generate increased cruising participation between; Scotland, Norway, Faroes, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – to develop themed routes around Scottish shores
“This helps showcase Scotland as a world-class destination and encourages increased participation in sports and recreational activities. The action plan from the Marine Tourism Development Group shows how all sectors in Scotland - public, private and third sector - need to play a role in realising the full potential of our wonderful marine and coastal assets.”
Stuart McMillan, West Scotland MSP and Convener of the Cross-Party Group on Recreational Boating and Marine Tourism, said: “The Cross-Party Group on Recreational Boating and Marine Tourism has led the way on highlighting Scotland's Marine Tourism opportunity and I’m delighted to be chairing this second symposium. Our first event two years ago set three challenging targets: The creation of the first marine tourism strategy, the creation of a data collection tool and a second symposium to ensure progress is being made.
“All three challenges have been met and now Scotland is about to progress the Marine Tourism offering even further.”
Alan Rankin of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Marine Tourism Project Manager, said: “Marine tourism has enormous potential to grow in the years ahead. We have some of the most stunning locations in the world that are easily accessible to our UK and overseas markets. That, coupled with a broad range of innovative companies, progressive local business communities and an aligned stakeholder-led strategy makes for a really positive future for the sector. The planned growth will come from businesses providing brilliant customer experiences as part of a joined-up partnership approach across the industry.”
Among the speakers at today’s Symposium is Lars Olsen, a coastal tourism expert who, while chief executive of Fanoe Council, helped tranform the Danish island into a bustling holiday hotspot and is the co-founder of the Cold Water Island Tourism Conference, which took place on Arran earlier this year.
He said: “Scotland has a great deal to offer both domestic and international tourists, but it is important to have a holistic approach. Maritime tourism cannot stand alone. It is also about infrastructure, connectivity, excellent restaurants, accommodation, other great experiences on and in the sea, events and the synergy of the sea, the shoreline and the hinterland.”
The Scottish Marine Tourism Development Group comprises: British Marine Scotland; The Crown Estate; The Firth of Clyde Forum; Highlands and Islands Enterprise; The Royal Yachting Association Scotland; Sail Scotland; Scottish Canals; Scottish Development International; Scottish Enterprise; the Scottish Tourism Alliance; and VisitScotland.
Earlier this year, Scotland was voted the ‘World’s Best Cruising Ground’ in the prestigious Sailing Today Awards - beating the warm weather destinations of Greece, Turkey, Canaries and St Vincent and the Grenadines
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Notes to Editors
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- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism economy contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Food and Drink 2015- 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
- Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
- A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
- For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland
