Staying out for the summer

• Record half a billion pounds spent in Scotland over just 3 months in 2013
• Overseas holiday visits soared by 16.5% in Q3
• Visitors most likely to play golf and visit a castle than in any other area
• Highlands top the ‘to do’ list for Nordics

Local Scottish tourist attractions, accommodation providers and high streets can expect a till-busting summer as new VisitBritain research shows, in Q3 of 2013, the country welcomed its highest number of overseas holiday visits for seven years, spending more in the region than any previous summer on record.

Scotland welcomed 615,000 overseas holiday visits in the Q3 period of July, August and September 2013 – an increase of 16.5% compared to the 528,000 holiday visits that took place during the same period in 2012. This is the highest number of summer holiday visits since the pre-economic crisis record of 654,000 in 2007.

A record £504 million was spent on these visits during the Q3 months of July, August and September 2013 - an increase of 33% compared to the 2012 total of £378 million. This was the fastest rate of spend growth seen across all British regions apart from the East Midlands. London saw a 4% increase whilst Wales saw spend uplift of 15%.

Of all overseas holiday visits to Scotland in 2013, 50% took place during the Q3 months of July, August and September. This is the third highest relative percentage of Q3 holiday visits across all regions in Britain, behind the South West (54%) and Yorkshire 52%. The lowest was London, at 32%, which reflects the capital’s position as a year-round destination.

The largest volume of visits to Scotland during July, August and September of 2013 - 111,000 - were from the USA, setting a new Q3 American spend record of £113 million - 53% more than they spent during the same period in 2012 (£74 million).

Of the fast-growing BRIC markets in 2013, the largest volume of visits - and highest spending visitors - to Scotland were from Russia – 11,000 of them, spending £12m. In comparison, there were 8,000 visits from China with spend of £2m, 5,000 visits from India (worth £2m) and 4,000 visits from Brazil (£2m).

When looking at a city breakdown for holiday visits, it is best to review the statistics as an average across the 2011 to 2013 yearly period, rather than by quarter. Overall, Edinburgh and Glasgow were unsurprisingly the most visited cities in Scotland for holiday visits. However, data suggests that Aberdeen and the Highlands, including Inverness, are very popular indeed with our overseas holiday visitors. For example, more Brazilians went to Inverness than Glasgow, Liverpool, Bath or York.

Looking at the most visited cities or locations, of all nationalities, Britain’s Nordic visitors have the highest proportion of their most visited locations in Scotland. For holidaying Danes, these include Edinburgh (16,500), Aberdeen (7,600), Glasgow (7,000), Ballater (3,200), Pitlochry (3,100) and Nairn in the Highlands (4,400). More Fins visited St Andrews (1,300) than Oxford (1,100) and three out of the top five most visited locations by Swedish visitors were in Scotland: Edinburgh, Oban and Inverness.

The amount spent during the 23,000 holiday visits to Scotland from Denmark - £64 million - during Q3 2013 was particularly notable and only one million less than the £65m spent on the 92,000 visits from Germany. This trend will be influenced by the Nordic countries’ closer connections – both geographically and historically – to Scotland than the rest of Britain, largely due to the industrial link provided by the North Sea’s oil industry. Many visitors will have got to know the area through business tourism, and then want to go back and share the experience with their family.

In terms of holiday activities carried out during visits to Scotland only, it is the most popular area in Britain for golf, with its world class courses including St Andrews and Gleneagles. Scotland’s heritage is also a major draw; visits to Scotland have a higher propensity to include famous buildings or monuments (73%), castles (67%) and religious buildings (41%) than visits anywhere else in Britain.

This trend was highlighted when VisitBritain asked people in 20 countries around the world to choose the top three activities they would most like to do on a British holiday. Scottish castles were the third most popular, in the top three for (29%) of potential visitors out of 18 possible activities across Britain.¹
Additionally, local Scottish contemporary culture is clearly very attractive to overseas visitors, with Edinburgh recently closing yet another successful Fringe Festival. Outside London, Scotland is the destination most likely to see its visitors going to museums (45%) and art galleries (23%).

The region also attracts a notable number of overseas music tourists - 26,000 - who attended a live music event and spent £17m in 2012. Music tourism involves visiting a city or town, to see a festival or other music performances – such as RockNess, T in the Park or maybe Rewind Festival in Perth.²

Patricia Yates, Director of Strategy and Communications at VisitBritain said: “These numbers demonstrate Scotland’s strong appeal to international visitors and the economic delivery of inbound tourism.
”We have been working in partnership with VisitScotland to ensure that the good figures from last year are built on, to show continued growth for Scottish tourism.”

Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said:“With its history, culture and stunning natural landscapes, Scotland has always been a draw for international visitors but it is fantastic to see that this interest appears to be growing. This has been helped by the increasing number of flights that now fly directly to our airports across Scotland. 

 “The summer of 2013 was a particularly strong season for Scotland, following our international marketing campaigns, our partnership with Disney surrounding Brave and the activities, initiatives and events developed for the Year of Natural Scotland. We now look forward to welcoming more visitors and seeing more growth within the industry this year, following the extraordinary success of the Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games and Edinburgh Festivals, as well as next month’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, and major Homecoming events like the Forth Bridge Festivals, the unmissable Ryder Cup Gala Concert, Highland Homecoming and the MTV European Music Awards.”

All figures are from the International Passenger Survey, with the exception of:

1.  VisitBritain
research report: Inbound tourism to Britain’s nations and regions: Profile
and activities of international holiday visitors

2.  Wish you Were Here music tourism
report, produced by UK Music and VisitBritain in November 2013
 
 
For further information please contact Mark Di-Toro on 0207 578 1098 or Sarah Runnacles on 0207 578 1091.