Strongest first half of year for Scottish tourism since 2008

The first six months of 2014 equated to the strongest first half of a year for inbound tourism to Scotland since 2008, new tourism figures from VisitBritain reveal.

From January to June 2014 Scotland welcomed 1,118,000 inbound international visits – an uplift of 16% on the same period in 2013 and the highest number of visits for six years. This growth sees visit numbers moving towards pre-economic crisis record levels.

The amount spent during visits to Scotland in these first six months was £575 million – marginally lower than the record breaking £620 million spent in 2013 but still higher than any other year apart from 2013. The traditionally high-spending Q3 2014 data (July-September) is still to come and will heavily impact the year-to-date spend figures across Scotland. During these Q3 months the nation hosted a successful Ryder Cup in Gleneagles and of course the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Out of all inbound visits to Scotland, business visits saw the most notable growth, with uplift of 41% to a total of 238,000 visits – the highest number for this sixth month period since 2009. Holiday visits rose by 9% to 497,000 - a new record - while the amount spent on ‘Visiting Friends and Family’ (VFR) visits reached a new record of £163 million.

The largest number of visits to Scotland during these six months - 173,000 - came from the US, with growth of 76% compared to the same period in 2013, which had seen a slight dip compared to 2012. Visits from Germany followed, with a total of 161,000 visits representing a rise of 42%. Visits from these two markets also brought in the highest amount of tourist spending for January to June 2014, with expenditure from the US up by 42% to £127 million and £64 million spent during visits from Germany. Visits from China were more valuable than ever before, with this six month period seeing tourism spending by Chinese visitors reach a new record of £20 million.

Visits from Scotland’s other major tourism markets, including the Republic of Ireland and Norway, were also up in the first half of 2014 compared to 2013.  Visits from the Republic of Ireland grew by 46% to 79,000 and spend went up 38% to £19 million. Visits from Norway rose 67% to new record of 67,000 and spend was up 47% to £35 million compared to the same period in 2013. Visits from Australia also reached a new record of 57,000 – a 29% rise compared to 2013.

Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said:

"These figures show that the Year of Homecoming in 2014 is providing a unique opportunity to encourage more and more visitors to come and enjoy Scotland.

"The first six months show substantial growth in many of our key markets including the USA, Germany, Republic of Ireland and Australia, as well as encouraging growth in spending from emerging tourism markets like China.

"The largest growth of visitors in the first six months were from the USA, showing that VisitScotland's promotional campaigns such as 'Meet the Scots', 'Scotland Week' and 'Home of Golf' have clearly resonated with the American public."

Sally Balcombe, CEO at VisitBritain, commented:

“Early indications are that 2014 is shaping up to be another record year for inbound tourism to Scotland, with hugely valuable gains from key markets across the world.

“We continue to work in partnership with VisitScotland to ensure that these six month figures are built upon, in order to deliver sustained growth for Scottish inbound tourism.”

Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said: 

“2014 is the year that we predicted that Scotland would welcome the world and with a significant increase in overseas visitors, it seems we have done just that!

“Homecoming Scotland has had a significant impact on tourism. With record attendances at hundreds of events across the country, we have been able to make a concerted effort to reach out to the diaspora and the many visitors overseas who feel they have a connection to Scotland through ancestry, history and culture. 

“Since 2012, development efforts have delivered over 80 new routes to Scottish airports with more and more announced year on year. In the last year alone, major inbound routes will have delivered hundreds of thousands of additional seats, bringing a remarkable number of new visitors to Scotland. 

“The events, activity and worldwide attention in 2014 has taken Scotland’s profile and reputation to great heights and we are determined to make the most of this for the future.  As we head into the 2015 Year of Food and Drink and beyond, we will look to invest in, develop and build on all we have achieved. It is our turn to get out there and take Scotland to the world”