Press release -
Online surfers hit remote Scottish beach
One of Scotland’s most spectacular but remote beaches is proving a big hit among online surfers.
Sandwood Bay in Sutherland, which sits on the North Coast 500 route and is famous for its imposing sea stack and its ghost stories, has topped organic searches for beaches on VisitScotland.com – both among Scottish residents and among potential visitors from the rest of the UK.
It is the only beach mentioned by name in the top-ten list of organic searches, averaging 1,000 searches a month in the UK (not including Scotland). The terms “Scottish beaches” and “beaches in Scotland” are in second place with 260 searches.
The research forms part of VisitScotland’s new Insight paper, Coastal Tourism in Scotland, which is published today and which reveals the industry is worth £323 million to the economy.
The paper also shows that Scottish beaches are hugely popular among Londoners, with more than a quarter (27.6 per cent) of internet searches outside Scotland originating in the UK capital.
Among other findings of Coastal Tourism in Scotland are:
• 35 to 44-year-olds enjoy more coastal visits than any other demographic, with 378,000 trips and £76 million spend per year
• Self-catering properties are the most popular form of accommodation among domestic holidaymakers, generating 582,000 trips a year
• The west of Scotland generates the largest number of domestic seaside trips, with an average of 612,000 trips a year, generating £112 million in spend
Part of the Sandwood Estate run by the John Muir Trust, Sandwood Bay is one of the most unspoilt beaches in mainland Britain. It has no road access but can be reached by a four-mile path from the hamlet of Blairmore.
Before the lighthouse at nearby Cape Wrath was built, Sandwood Bay saw a number of shipwrecks and, according to legend, doomed sailors haunt the site.
Facing west into the Atlantic, Sandwood Bay is also highly regarded among beach break surfers.
Thurso-based surfer Mark Boyd, who has competed around the world as a member of the Scottish National Surfing Team, said: “There aren’t many west-facing beaches on the Scottish mainland so Sandwood Bay is a great spot for surfing in the summer months, where you don’t find many good waves elsewhere, because it is exposed to the swell of the Atlantic. The quality of the waves at Sandwood Bay is really high and compares to some of the best beach breaks in France.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said: “Scotland boasts an incredible coastline with some of the finest beaches in the world, with seaside breaks playing a vital role in the country’s visitor economy. Our Coastal Tourism in Scotland paper gives a fascinating insight into who visits our beaches, and why. It is no surprise that the beautiful and mysterious Sandwood Bay captures the imagination of so many people around Britain, but its majesty can only be truly appreciated at first hand.”
Don O’Driscoll, Sandwood and Quinag Property Manager for the John Muir Trust, said: “Sandwood Bay is breathtakingly beautiful, and most people who visit don’t get many chances to experience a wild place like this. There’s also the sense of achievement people get from the long walk in, a walk rewarded with a panorama of sea, cliff stacks and a pristine beach. Of course, there’s also the wildlife that makes this a designated site, the Machair sand dunes, the larks singing, the gannets diving. Put simply, it’s a magical place the Trust is proud to take care of for the benefit of everyone.”
To view VisitScotland’s new Insight paper, Coastal Tourism in Scotland, go to http://www.visitscotland.org/research_and_statistics/tourism_sectors/coastal_tourism.aspx
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- 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.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- 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 Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016 - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
- Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme
