EET/S3/09/12/A
ECONOMY, ENERGY AND TOURISM COMMITTEE
AGENDA
12th Meeting, 2009 (Session 3)
Wednesday 1 April 2009
The Committee will meet at 9.30 am in Committee Room 1.
1. Decision on taking business in private: The Committee will decide whether to take item 3 in private.
2. State of the Scottish tourism industry: The Committee will discuss the current state of the Scottish tourism industry, emerging issues and the progress of Homecoming 2009.
Iain Herbert, Chief Executive, Scottish Tourism Forum;
Henk Berits, Director of Commercial Services and Marketing, National Trust for Scotland;
David Smythe, Chairman, Association of Scottish Self-Caterers;
and then from—
Councillor Tom Buchanan, Convener of the Economic Development Committee, and Kenneth Wardrop, Project Director, Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance, The City of Edinburgh Council;
Councillor Josie Simpson, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, Shetland Isles Council;
Alan Rankin, Chief Executive, Aviemore and the Cairngormes Destination Management Ltd;
George Harper, Strategic Director of Development Services, Argyll & Bute Council;
Calum Iain MacIver, Director of Development, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar;
and then from— EET/S3/09/12/A
Philip Riddle, Chief Executive, and Peter Lederer, Chairman, VisitScotland;
Vicky Carlin, Deputy Director, Promotion of Scotland and Tourism Division, and Richard Arnott, Head of Tourism Team, Scottish Government;
Kenneth Clark, Tourism Manager, and Paul McCafferty, Senior Executive in Tourism, Scottish Enterprise.
3. Tourism inquiry - appointment of adviser: The Committee will consider whether to seek approval for the appointment of an adviser.
Stephen Imrie Clerk to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee Room T3.40 The Scottish Parliament Edinburgh Tel: 0131 348 5207 Email: [email protected] EET/S3/09/12/A
The papers for this meeting are as follows—
Agenda item 2
Note by the Clerk EET/S3/09/12/1 (P) Note by the Clerk EET/S3/09/12/2
Link to VisitScotland Promoting Homecoming Scotland 2009 to the UK an Ireland Market Annexe
SPICe briefing EET/S3/09/12/3
Agenda item 3
Note by the Clerk EET/S3/09/12/4 (P)
EET/S3/09/12/2
Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee
12th Meeting, 2009 (Session 3), Wednesday, 1 April, 2009
State of the Scottish tourism industry – written evidence
Background
1. The Committee has received written evidence in relation to the current state of the Scottish tourism industry from the City of Edinburgh Council and VisitScotland. The submissions are attached as the annexe to this paper.
Recommendation
3. Members are asked to take the submissions into account in their deliberations when questioning today’s witnesses.
Stephen Imrie Clerk to the Committee March 2009 EET/S3/09/12/2
SUBMISSION FROM THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL
DESTINATION EDINBURGH MARKETING ALLIANCE (DEMA):
1. Context
1.1 Edinburgh is the key driver of the Scottish economy; a gateway to Scotland, generating 25% of Scotland’s visitor economy GDP; the UK’s second city for International arrivals; a centre for innovation and the commercialisation of our intellectual capital. The City Region is strong in five of the Scottish Government’s key growth industries/ sectors (Finance, Life Sciences - science and technology, Tourism, Digital Media (Creative Industries) and Food and Drink) and Edinburgh’s success ensures Scotland’s success.
1.2 A destination is a place where people want to be. The market globally in destinations is becoming increasingly competitive but there has been a standardisation of offer. Cities are the new destination brands; they are becoming the “attack brands” for countries – examples being Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Prague, London, Paris, Sydney and New York. All these city destinations are recognised for the importance of their promotional activities to their country as a whole.
1.3 Cities that organise the promotion of their assets in a compelling and coherent way will be tomorrow’s winners in this ‘competitive place race’, where new destinations are constantly joining the competition. Edinburgh needs to exploit the powerful assets it has (for those visiting, investing, living, working, and studying), and to continue to differentiate itself from its competitors. Currently it is one of the few European Capital Cities without its own City Marketing Bureau. Edinburgh’s new approach to destination promotion is not solely about Tourism promotion. It is about maximising the cross selling opportunities across tourism, talent and trade.
1.4 The Anholt City Brand Index surveys and then rates visitor perceptions of major international cities. The 2008 report states: “Edinburgh clearly needs to gain more recognition for its contemporary assets and achievements. It seems unlikely that ‘ business as usual’ will result in significant enhancement of Edinburgh’s international profile: Edinburgh’s current activities and assets are maintaining its position just outside the Top 20 of the City Brands Index, but if Edinburgh is to compete on profile with any of the higher-ranking world class cities in the list, a step change in the scale and importance of its activities – sporting, cultural, political or economic – will be required.”
While Edinburgh ranks 22 in the 2008 City Brand Index (punching above its weight given our city’s size), the message for Edinburgh is that it needs to address perceptions around a lack of presence, pulse and potential, Similar messages for Scotland are contained in the Anholt Nation Brand Index.
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1.5 The current economic climate has added a sense of urgency to DEMA’s work in communicating all that Edinburgh has to offer as a destination. It is being established as a new private sector/ public sector collaborative approach with the national promotional agencies (VisitScotland and SDI), reflecting the Scottish Government’s desire for new ways of collaborative working to be developed. This way of working is embodied in the Concordat and Local Government SOA.
1.6 DEMA’s recently completed Destination Promotion Strategy provides a new focus, enabling the Alliance to now take forward its business planning and begin implementing from April 2009, based on a firm understanding of our customers. To assist with this the City of Edinburgh Council Economic Development Committee at is meeting on the 10 March 2009 agreed to put at DEMA’s disposal the Destination Promotion resources (including staff) currently within the Council’s Economic Development service. At the same time, it was agreed that future services purchases from VisitScotland would be through DEMA rather than directly by the Council.
2. A Private Sector/ Public Sector Partnership
2.1 DEMA is a private sector driven initiative, an alliance or consortium of city stakeholders working with the City of Edinburgh Council and national agencies (VisitScotland, SDI, Scottish Enterprise). The DEMA Project Board is chaired by Norman Springford, Executive Chairman of Apex Hotels. City stakeholders include: Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Edinburgh Business Assembly, Edinburgh Convention Bureau, Edinburgh Principal Hotels Association, Edinburgh Science Triangle, Edinburgh Festivals, Essential Edinburgh (Business Improvement District), Edinburgh’s Universities, Edinburgh Tourism Action Group, and the City of Edinburgh Council. VisitScotland, Scottish Development International, and Scottish Enterprise (East) have had a seat on the Project Board and have been involved in the working and tasks groups shaping the strategy from the outset.
2.2 Proposals are well advanced to formalise this private sector/ public sector alliance through the creation of a Not-for-profit Company Limited by Guarantee which will enable DEMA to raise and manage funds and undertake business transactions.
2.3 In preparation of the ‘Promoting Edinburgh as a Destination’ Task Group Report (published in February 2008) which involved extensive consultation with over seventy stakeholders across the city the following issues were identified:
Fragmented approach: There is considerable individual activity to promote Edinburgh and no shortage of willingness to co-operate – the question is whether this activity adds up to the sum of its parts;
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Clarity of common purpose: Organisations require a clear statement of roles, remits and objectives to form an integrated proposition;
Leadership: Edinburgh would benefit from a leading individual/organisation to bring people together and speak with one voice;
Destination Promotion Strategy: Edinburgh has a strong offering but needs to do more to secure its position as a destination of the future - it must take cohesive action now;
Capitalising on assets and cross selling: Edinburgh can gain an advantage by cross-selling between (visit, invest, live & study or tourism, talent & trade).
The lead role now being taken by DEMA will tackle these issues, and reduce the confusion for our customers from mixed messages and fragmentation.
2.4 DEMA has always recognised the advantages of working in partnership with the national agencies in order to make the most of promotional activities in international markets without replicating or duplicating activities. However, DEMA is looking to establish a different sort of partnership relationship to help the City make the most of the proposed targeting of specific audiences. This way of working is defined in the new Destination Promotion Strategy for the City which proposes to - establish specific return on investment from all promotional activity in whatever partnerships it is engaged.
2.5 Five Objectives for DEMA
Objective 1: A customer focussed “one-stop shop” that adds value for its stakeholders and the customer
Objective 2: Create a Destination Promotion Strategy for the City
Objective 3: Form new local, national and international perceptions for Edinburgh as a destination
Objective 4: Shared Promotion – a catalyst for public partnership maximising collaborative opportunities
Objective 5: A dedicated ‘City’ ( local ) marketing and promotion function
2.6 The Edinburgh City Region Brand: ‘Edinburgh Inspiring Capital’ will as part of DEMA, continue to be the shop window of the city, and an early action by the City Council has been to formally align the operations of the City Region Brand with DEMA, and the Council’s tourism and inward investment promotion activities. This has given a clear signal of
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the City’s intent to support the alignment of activities and creation of a ‘one-stop shop’ approach.
2.7 This alignment of local promotional activity through DEMA will be of benefit to the national agencies establishing a more coherent; consistent; less fragmented approach to city promotion, and an alignment and marshalling of city stakeholders promotional resources. Clarity of purpose and strategic direction by the Capital will assist in the continued alignment of a strategic approach at a national level. The repositioning of the Edinburgh proposition and increased messaging about the destination (especially its ‘open to business’ messages at this time) will have mutual benefit to the Capital and to Scotland.
Councillor Tom Buchanan Convener for Economic Development The City of Edinburgh Council
Kenneth Wardrop Project Director Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance 26 March 2009
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SUBMISSION FROM VISITSCOTLAND
1. Introduction
VisitScotland welcomes the opportunity to submit written evidence to the Economy, Energy & Tourism Committee’s Tourism Inquiry.
Tourism is a key sector of the Scottish economy. This is recognised by the fact that tourism is one of the 6 key strands identified by the Scottish Government to assist the country through the current economic climate. While the current economic environment is posing significant challenges for the industry in Scotland we believe there is real cause for optimism for the future of Scottish tourism.
This submission will outline in detail the following areas that the Committee has indicated it wishes to focus on:
• How VisitScotland is working with the industry to respond to the economic environment; • Homecoming Scotland 2009; • Industry performance; and • Local authority partnership working.
During this time it is important that we all work together and that there is no duplication of effort, particularly when it comes to public spending. Many countries look at Scotland’s ability to work together, bound by a strong sense of identity and passion for our industry and country. Indeed, many of our competitors look at our cohesion in terms of effort and energy with great envy.
2. VisitScotland’s Response to the Economic Environment
As part of the Scottish Government’s overall Scottish Economic Recovery Programme - Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and VisitScotland have developed a Tourism Response Plan. The key components of the Tourism Response Plan can be summarised as follows:
1. VisitScotland’s tactical marketing - maximising the opportunities created by Homecoming Scotland 2009 and adapting our marketing activity accordingly (outlined in more detail below). 2. Scottish Enterprise’s (SEn) Innovation Fund and VisitScotland’s Growth Fund - SEn Tourism Innovation Fund launched in February 2009 offers up to £30,000 match funding and 5 days of advisory and project management support for highly innovative tourism projects from either individual businesses or industry groups. The VisitScotland Growth Fund funds new marketing activity and provides 50% funding contribution from grant scheme - minimum award £3,125 to a maximum of £65,000 - 7 groups involving 370 businesses have successfully applied for and been granted marketing assistance of £164,000 supporting total marketing activity of over £585,000.
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3. National Investment Plan - Following a series of industry seminars and detailed analysis of consumer research, the first draft of a joint SE/HIE/VS/SDI national investment plan has been completed. This has always been viewed as a longer term project focused on a time after the current challenging environment has become more favourable for investment. The main focus will be on transformational new investment but will highlight the need for businesses to continually invest in the quality of their existing facilities. The agencies have sought broad input from the industry through workshops and have engaged with the planning community at a range of events. 4. SEn & Highlands & Islands Industry / Business Support - Good resources already exist on the national Business Gateway web site with a series of hints and tips aimed at helping businesses through the credit crunch and providing specific advice on managing working capital, reducing costs and managing utilities. SEn are continuing to support to the industry in line with their commitment to the Tourism Framework for Change, which will promote and support both the kinds of short –term action the industry needs to take in the current environment e.g. in areas such as innovation and to encourage investment around our key products and destinations. HIE continue to support businesses with high growth potential with a package of support typically including capital investment, advice, mentoring, leadership development etc. They are also working to accelerate opportunities for targeted inward investment at key locations across the region, To continue to support businesses with high growth potential with a package of support typically including capital investment, advice, mentoring, leadership development etc. HIE is also working to accelerate opportunities for targeted inward investment at key locations across the region. 5. Constant Monitoring - as part of the activity under this plan all the agencies pool and share economic, consumer, industry and market research data to ensure any planned actions are in line with demand and the changing economic environment. In addition, we have significantly increased our intelligence gathering activity by more focused and higher profile engagement with key business accounts, DMOs and industry groups.
The specific VisitScotland activity outlined below is VisitScotland’s contribution to the Tourism Response Plan.
2.1 Marketing
We have already made significant adjustments to our marketing activity, to concentrate on opportunities in the UK. This has been done through up- weighting our marketing programmes and increasingly focusing our direct activity on our higher performing domestic customer groups. Internationally, activity has been prioritised on those European markets with direct access to Scotland, and markets with growth potential like Spain and Canada and those with the greatest propensity to respond to Homecoming Scotland 2009.
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The focus of messaging throughout all our activity has been to focus on quality, value, and special offers. We are positioning Scotland as being the “best value for decades”. In addition, our size and scale allows us to leverage relationships with large scale commercial partners such as Canadian Affair, Ryanair and Highland Spring, allowing both increased access to and more activity in markets that it would be difficult for businesses and areas to penetrate in isolation.
Strong marketing, attractive promotions, such as VisitScotland’s Winter White Campaign combined with good value offers (3 nights for the price of 2) is designed to drive revenue to tourism businesses. The campaign is just one of a number of campaigns that we have deployed over recent months to respond to the economic environment. Other campaigns include: Real Scotland: The Locals’ Guide, promoting areas across Scotland in conjunction with Conde Nast; Accessible Adventure, an ongoing campaign to position the country as a destination offering a variety of adventure activities; and ‘Drive it Home’ with 85 courses offering enthusiasts across the world the chance to win £2.4 million worth of rounds.
Our “I Am A Scot” campaign– will reach around 95 million people across the world while our European Touring Campaign – will invest over £1m in France, Germany and Spain from mid February onwards. Homecoming will be an important element of this campaign and we have confirmed partnerships with key players such as FlyGlobespan.
Through our consumer PR we are showcasing Scotland as a great value destination with our media newsletter going to over 400 media contacts across Europe focusing on good value ways to enjoy a Scottish break, value for money air links and plans are underway for a spring PR campaign: ‘City on Budget.’
Across all our markets we have a bi-annual travel trade e-newsletter to overseas travel trade, which goes to 12,000 contacts and through them to potentially millions. In addition, with the strength of the Euro against the Pound, our e-communications are continually highlighting Scotland as a great value destination. This email goes out to 430,000 consumers across Europe. The size and scale of our databases means that to recreate our databases for the international market it would cost in the region of £15 million.
In the German market, Homecoming activities include competitions, directmail and videos on You tube. In USA our electronic newsletter went to 134,000 consumers with a touring theme, while our golf newsletter goes to 11,000 consumers and is fully integrated with the Drive it Home activity. Our February newsletter went to 150,000 consumers focusing on strong value for money message with the new exchange rate providing US visitors with more bang for their buck in Scotland and our ancestral newsletter regularly goes to 14,000 consumers.
In Canada, our e-newsletter regularly goes to 10,000 consumers and our most recent ancestral e-newsletter focused on the Famous Scots exhibition.
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The current focus of our Business Tourism Unit (BTU) is on selling Scotland as a good value, more affordable option through PR activity focusing on the favourable exchange rate for European and North American consumers and the lowering of the VAT rate. In addition, the BTU is working closely with Scottish Development International to maximise collaborative opportunities around Homecoming Scotland 2009 and in Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
From ambassador programmes to trade missions to emerging markets, the BTU is ensuring that Scotland is constantly on the national and international radar. The BTU also partners with business organisations including Scottish Enterprise, the inward investment body Scottish Development International (SDI), and with the City Convention Bureaux in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, to create an integrated approach in promoting Scotland as a destination for meetings and conferences, both nationally and internationally.
The BTU regularly carries out successful missions to emerging markets such as Russia and India. These markets are increasingly looking abroad to host their meetings, conferences and, particularly, incentive trips, and it is crucial that the BTU continues to highlight Scotland’s diversity and its world-class facilities. The BTU has recently visited Moscow and St Petersburg and Hyderabad and Bangalore in India. The BTU also hosts biannual Scotland Means Business events, which have become a key date on meeting buyers’ calendars. These events offer the exclusive opportunity to meet a wide range of partners – including venues, suppliers and event organisers, it gives buyers an incomparable insight into the diversity Scotland has to offer. The most recent Scotland Means Business event was in November.
2.1.1 Measuring Success
Measuring success is critical to our marketing strategy so we can maximise the economic value we generate from our campaigns. Measuring the success of individual campaigns is important for assessing value for money and for informing future marketing activity. In measuring impact, we balance measuring the short-term efficacy of expenditure using different channels, through to longer-term strategic brand equity.
Our most recent UK brand tracking allows us to monitor consumer awareness of Scotland over time and to compare ourselves to our competitors. This research supports our current strategy and shows that there has been an increase in people saying they are ‘very likely to visit’ Scotland. It also shows that due to our activity Scotland’s position is strong amongst our warmer segments and that overall Scotland maintains a competitive position.
This research is also used to evaluate our campaign activity. For example, it shows that 4 in 10 of respondents in the Calton Region - ‘London and the South East’ stated that they had seen the
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poster that was displayed in a number of locations including the London Underground and that more than 55% would respond to the adverts ‘call to action’ to visit the VisitScotland and Homecoming websites - the VisitScotland site alone attracts around 11 million users a year.
Some examples of the economic additionality (i.e. visitor spend in Scotland that would not have happened without our intervention) generated by our marketing campaigns are outlined below.
Touring represents the largest leisure tourism market to Scotland from Europe with both cities and rural areas featuring in visitor itineraries. Low cost direct flights and a strong Euro allow us to maximise opportunities. From the German and French markets alone, last year’s touring campaign generated over £50 million for Scotland. For example the campaigns delivered:
• German Touring Campaign 2008 The additionality generated for the Highlands was £7,379,321 million The additionality generated for Edinburgh was £ 8,355,996 million The additionality generated for Glasgow was £4,123,738 million
• France Touring Campaign 2008 The additionality for the Highlands was £3,573,508 million The additionality for Edinburgh was £ 3,832,458 million The additionality generated for Glasgow was £2,382,339 million
In the UK market our VisitScotland Winter White marketing campaign, currently in its third year, generated an additional £46 million to the Scottish economy in 2007/08. It is designed to showcase some of the best things to see and do in Scotland during the traditionally quieter tourism months, promoting Scotland as a year-round destination. For example the campaign delivered additionality of:
• £10,151,474 million in Glasgow • £16,150,072 million in Highlands • £15,000,000 million in Edinburgh
Our UK Relationship Marketing Programme is designed to persuade existing UK customers to visit again and to attract new visitors. Themed on the maxim ‘Keep discovering’, activity targets an extensive database of several million consumers (and our partnerships with companies like EasyJet and National Express allow access to millions more), profiled according to lifestyle and interests with consistently stimulating messages on what to see and do on a short break.
Both online and printed communications channels are employed to reach customers. Marketing messages are compiled to reflect each individual’s varying interests. This ongoing campaign continues to deliver economic impact. For example in 2008 the campaign delivered £7,923,834 million additonality in Glasgow and £15,000,000 million additionality in the Highlands.
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Our extensive consumer research plays the greatest role in determining how we promote Scotland. We carry out a wide range of consumer research that allows us to segment our audiences and through understanding the profile and behaviour of each segment we can market accordingly. The research includes:
• Marketing metrics (e.g. cost per conversion; cost per thousand; life- time value; visits to websites; registrations). • A rolling programme of conversion studies to establish ROI of international marketing campaigns • Cities brand tracking (perceptions of our cities and comparator cities). • IPK (Global Research Consultancy) and other trend and holiday intention research. • Consumer insight research (including attitudinal studies). • Consumer focus group testing (e.g. of touring and Citybreaks campaign work) which enables us to refine brand positioning. • Segmentation research. These allow us to profile our current consumer databases (which have over 4 million names on them). • Relationship management programme which allows us to track loyalty and our ability to influence it. • Market profiling for key international markets.
2.2 VisitScotland Support for Businesses
The key for VisitScotland is that our marketing activity leads to increased visitation for our tourism businesses. Our focus is on providing routes to market for businesses and our Business Engagement Directorate works with around 11,500 businesses every year.
To support businesses through the recession we have frozen the prices on our core business products and marketing opportunities that businesses buy into. The specific actions we have taken is to freeze the prices on the following:
• Quality Assurance products in 2008/09. • Our standard marketing opportunity packages in 2009/10 which include a standard listing in the local accommodation or visitor guide (non- accommodation businesses are listed in the visitor guide), exposure in the relevant Visitor Information Centre and a standard listing on VisitScotland.com. • Our enhanced marketing opportunities packages in 2009/10 – enhancement of the standard package includes, for example, quarter page advert in the local guide as opposed to a standard listing.
Quality assurance products and marketing opportunity packages (our core products) represent 70% and 86% of our business customers respectively, meaning that the vast majority of our business customers will benefit from
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these changes. In addition, any price increases for additional products will be kept to an absolute minimum.
Furthermore, we have made changes to our Growth Fund to help more businesses access additional marketing funding. The changes we have made to the scheme include:
• raising the grant threshold to 50% of total budget; • additional project management support from VisitScotland for larger projects and groups applying for funding; and • making our QA more accessible by supporting groups to enter into a quality scheme as part of their application.
2.3 Summary
It is important to remember that compared to 2001 and the challenges presented by Foot and Mouth Disease and 09/11, the industry is better organised at local level in many parts of Scotland. Local tourism partnerships, destination and sector initiatives and a stronger and focused Scottish Tourism Forum all mean that there is a growing desire and ability at local level to work collaboratively and tackle issues and benefit collectively from opportunities as they arise.
The quality of our offering has also improved markedly since 2001, encouraged by VisitScotland’s Thistle Awards and through continued investment by the public and private sectors in our product with attractions such as Kelvingrove, Falkirk Wheel and Culloden Battlefield and facilities such as the Fairmount St Andrews. In addition, with support from airlines, Scottish Government, BAA Scotland and promotional activity from VisitScotland direct access to Scotland has improved considerably since 2001.
3. Local Authorities & VisitScotland Delivering Together
Local authority funding is important to VisitScotland - in the current financial year it will account for around 8% of our total budget. However, the importance of our partnership and co-operation with local authorities goes far beyond that of finance and is based on the crucial contribution that local authorities make to Scottish tourism.
Since our reorganisation in April 2008 we have worked with local authorities as both business customers and as strategic partners. As strategic partners our Regional Directors engage with senior officials and councillors across Scotland to build relationships aimed at gaining strategic alignment and senior level buy-in to the tourism sector and our activities. VisitScotland’s Chief Executive, Chairman, and Directors have supported this activity in meetings with local authority Leaders and Chief Executives across Scotland. In addition, the Chairman has also continued to host his COSLA Committee (the next meeting is scheduled for 17 April) to maintain strategic relationships. We have also hosted meetings of the SLAED Tourism Sub-Group and presented to the full SLAED Committee. As business customers we identify their needs
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and work with them to develop and deliver a menu of services that meet those needs.
Business Development Managers (BDMs) / Islands Managers regularly meet with officers from all local authorities engaged with us to discuss the development, implementation and monitoring of Service Level Agreements. In addition, during 2008 we held a local authority conference which brought together officers from most areas. This forum was used to present VisitScotland’s activities and to discuss their issues and needs. This event was positively received and a further conference will take place in May 2009.
In the current year we have Service Level Agreements in place with 30 of the 32 local authorities, based on a new, more direct and open basis, where it is clear what services we provide for their investment. Indeed, as a general rule we have extremely positive and constructive relations with local authorities across the country. We fully recognise that local authorities are our customers and ultimately must decide how they spend their money. We are in the process of agreeing Service Level Agreements for the 2009/10 period.
However, local authority funding to both the former area tourist boards and to VisitScotland has been in decline for the last 8 years. There are three main reasons for this:
1. efficiencies gained by the creation of the integrated VisitScotland network in 2005 have been shared with local authorities. This was an important driver of the integration as some area tourist boards were facing significant funding issues; 2. there is a general tightening of budgets within local authorities which we are sympathetic towards, plus the pressure of conflicting priorities, although we are disappointed that less money is going into tourism overall we are working with local authorities in a flexible way, so that we will provide the services that work best for their area and that less goes further; and 3. some local authorities are looking at alternative means of promotion.
In the context of the final point, as we have previously articulated to the Committee, we support the activity of destination management organisations, but not destination marketing organisations that do not promote areas in line with consumer needs. VisitScotland’s marketing strategy is based on the customer decision making process that concentrates on experience first (an approach endorsed by Deloitte in their recent paper: The economic case for the Visitor Economy’1). This decision making approach can best be articulated as ‘where can I do experience x, y or z’. This is opposed to the traditional decision making framework that was based on ‘where will I go’ and laterally ‘what can I do there?’ We recognise that this approach instinctively runs contrary to the natural instincts of some local authorities who have an understandable desire to see their area or local identity promoted, rather than a specific activity in their area, followed by information on where this activity
1 Deloitte MCS Limited: The Economic Case for the Visitor Economy (September 2008) P45.
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can be undertaken - it is at this stage visitors are directed to local areas. In addition, we must focus on those customers who are likely to respond to our marketing - hence our investment in extensive consumer segmentation
This changed customer decision making framework means that the destination based approach of the former area tourist boards would in today’s world be sub-optimal. The stark reality of the global tourism industry is that countries must effectively co-ordinate and focus their marketing activity across the customer journey from inspiring people to visit Scotland through to converting that interest into a visit/booking and then providing information on a local area. Duplication of effort and failure to co-ordinate activity at a national level and then within different parts of the country will lead to areas of the country competing against each other and will undoubtedly result in declining market share for Scotland and wasted public money.
As an organisation we believe we deliver a world class service across the customer journey. We are extremely confident in our ability to deliver an excellent return on the public money invested in us both by local authorities and by the Scottish Government. As outlined above the impact of our activity is clear. We believe the results we achieve would come out significantly ahead in any genuine comparison with alternative delivery models. Therefore we are keen to ensure that there should not be duplication of public sector effort as this is a waste of resource.
VisitScotland has a national remit to promote the whole of Scotland and our relationship with local authorities allows us to carry out additional activity. However, we do recognise that we have an opportunity to better demonstrate the value of our activity and the outcomes we achieve for an area. This is a currently a key area of focus and we are working hard to provide more evidence of the economic impact VisitScotland activity generates for local authority areas. Throughout 2008/09 we have developed a range of VisitScotland: Delivering for Edinburgh, Orkney, Highlands, Outer Hebrides, Aberdeen City & Shire, South of Scotland and others are currently in production.
In recognition of the need to address these issues we are working with local authorities, enterprise agencies and destination management organisations to: (a) explain our marketing strategy and (b) articulate how they can align their activity with our size and scale and opportunities for them to invest in our campaigns, thereby allowing us to expand the reach of our campaigns. Indeed, we are already working with destination based organisations such as Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park and the Aviemore and Cairngorm destination management organisation to achieve this. It is important that national and local activity complements rather than duplicates marketing activity that we are better placed to deliver.
In summary, local authorities undoubtedly have a significant role to play in supporting the development and growth of tourism, as of course, does VisitScotland. The challenge is to find ways of channelling the undoubted enthusiasm that exists in a way that is complementary. In order to achieve
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We are confident that together we will be successful.
4. Industry Performance - Overview
4.1 Introduction
There is no clear and consistent picture across the country with some businesses and areas doing well and others, notably those reliant on business tourism finding trading conditions more difficult with weak advance bookings as we move further into 2009. This mixed picture for business confidence is reflected in our February 2009 Tourism Barometer. Although, businesses do appear to be slightly more optimistic than they were when they were last surveyed in autumn 2008. The research also showed that:
• for their own sector 51% are less optimistic (compared to 63% in last survey) and • for their own business 43% are less optimistic compared to 48% previously. • Expectations for the forthcoming Easter/Spring season are equally mixed with as many businesses expecting fewer visitors (34%) as those expecting more visitors (34%) compared to the same period the previous year.
Overall, the results from the Tourism Barometer reflect the key findings from a VisitScotland Economic conditions poll, conducted the week before Christmas.
The accepted measure for the volume and value of tourism for Scotland is identified by the United Kingdom Tourism Survey (Domestic) and the International Passenger Survey (Inbound). This data provides historical information and shows general trends, but does not measure the effectiveness of VisitScotland’s marketing activity. The volume and value data from UKTS for the ten months to October 2008 is as follows:
Trips (m) Spend (£m) Jan-Oct 2007 2008 %Change 2007 2008 %Change Scotland 10.97 10.55 -3.8% 2,479 2,463 -0.7% UK 104.25 101.35 -2.8% 18,219 18,571 +1.9% Note: Spend in nominal prices
Although on a small base, performance for Scotland in October is better than that of the UK as a whole, with declines in trips and nights less marked and a modest increase in expenditure values against a decline for the UK. Overall, a
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UK tourism to Scotland shows a decline in trips (-3.8%) but a less significant decrease in spend (-0.7%) for the first ten months of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.
Scotland’s performance is less favourable than the rest of the UK (trips -2.8% and spend +1.9%). This differential in performance is less marked as the year progressed, a clear indication that factors influencing Scottish performance were travel and fuel costs which impacted on destination choice.
When examining the origin of visitors to Scotland we continue to experience increases in numbers coming from the North East and North West of England, although there is a slight drop in visitors from Yorkshire and Humberside. Visitors from the South East remain steady, but there is a decline in visits from London and in particular the South West of England.
Therefore, although there is a slight improvement in some areas, the figures demonstrate that perceived distance from origin and associated travel/fuel costs continue to be an influencing factor on destination choice. These findings reflect those of a VisitBritain survey to assess the effects of the economic downturn on domestic tourism conducted during September and October.
Further analysis of the January to August data indicates that overnight business trips are down (-16.7%), with many businesses aiming to curb costs by moving away from overnight to day trips and using technology for video/audio conferencing. Business tourism sales in the cities are the responsibility of the city convention bureau, however, as outlined above our BTU is working closely with them to respond to the economic environment.
4.2 Overseas visitor trends The next update of international data for Scotland (fourth quarter results) is due mid April. As a result, the following covers the UK as a whole for January to December 2008.
The full year picture is that there is a -2% drop in international visits between 2008 and 2007. Visitor spending was up +3% in nominal terms compared to 2007.
Visits from North America were down -13% in 2008 compared with 2007. Visits from EU15 countries (that is those nations members of the European Union before the 2004 expansion) were also down on last year, by -2%.
Visits from Accession countries continued to grow, up +8% year on year, whereas visits from non-EU countries in Europe are unchanged.
Visits from remaining parts of the world (Central and South America, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australasia) were unchanged in 2008 compared to 2007.
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The continuing poor economic climate in the US, rising unemployment and the lowest recorded levels of US consumer confidence on record will have all contributed to the fall in visits from North America.
Outbound visits by UK residents during 2008 were down -1% compared with 2007, whilst outbound expenditure has risen by +5%. The latter point is probably due to the higher cost of visiting the Eurozone and a slight decline in long-haul visits.
Figures for the last quarter of 2008 show an -8% decline in UK residents outbound visits compared to 2007, reflecting the wider appreciation of the effects of the global recession and its impact on consumer confidence.
4.3 Accommodation trends Statistics from the Scottish Accommodation Occupancy Survey for December 2008 show some declines in occupancy levels compared to 2007, with Guesthouse and B&B room occupancy showing the only increase (+1%). Data for the Caravan & Camping sector is only collected during April to October. However, it is important to note that some declines in accommodation levels have to be set against record levels in 2007. For example, Edinburgh enjoyed record hotel occupancy of 76% in 2007.
Running averages for the year show slight decreases in all sectors except Hostels, which remain stable. Hotels and Guesthouse/B&Bs are down -2%, with Self-catering down -1%. Hostels remain stable at 44%. For the April to October period the camping and caravanning sector remained fairly stable with a -1% decline in seasonal pitch occupancy.
The declines in occupancy reflect what we are seeing elsewhere, with declining trips and nights from the UK and International markets.
April and Year to Date Running Average Accommodation Occupancy Hotels* GH B&B* Self-catering Hostels 90 80
70
65 60 63
50 53 52 49 47 47 45 1.1.1.1 * Room occupancy 40 44 44 % Occupancy 30 33 31 26 20 25 25 24
10
0 Dec-07 Dec-08 Run Avg 07 Run Avg 08
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5. Homecoming Scotland 2009
In the current economic environment many nations are desperately seeking eye catching campaigns, endorsements for destinations and themed promotions. Most of these campaigns will probably flounder as they are poorly conceived and constructed in haste. However, in Homecoming Scotland 2009, with support from all political parties and local authorities across Scotland, we have a fantastic focus for collective effort. We are confident, that despite an economic environment that is not conducive to travel and tourism, that it will achieve its additionality targets.
As Homecoming gets into full swing, the year is attracting a great deal of interest from overseas and home. A range of fantastic events are underway across the country and we are building towards our next signature event, Whisky Month, which begins on 1 May. A poll conducted by YouGov shows that 84 per cent of the Scottish population have heard about Homecoming Scotland (up from 29 per cent in August last year). Additionally, almost half of people polled are expected to attend a Homecoming event throughout the year. Overseas, visits to our American website have trebled, and millions of people have seen the Caledonia TV Advert across the UK and the World.
Homecoming has led to a unique coming together from the very highest level down to community groups. As an industry we must ensure we build on its legacy of alignment. It is a great example of Parliament, industry and the public sector working to one agenda and a clear set of objectives. The Broad participation across Scotland clearly demonstrates the benefits of working at the Scotland-wide level.
5.1 Launch Weekend
The launch weekend included a capacity crowd at Iconic Burns in Alloway, a stunning visual tribute to the bard; 17,500 crowd in Dumfries for Burns Light, the lantern procession and a new world record created by joining together 3,600 Burns Suppers from 80 countries worldwide. The initial economic impact assessment carried out by Dumfries & Galloway Council shows that at least £150,000 additional revenue was generated for the local area.
In Glasgow, Celtic Connections was enhanced by sell-out Homecoming concerts including the ‘Bringing it all Back Home’ sessions, which along with the other concerts drew international audiences.
At the National Library a preview of the touring exhibition, Zig-Zag: The Paths of Robert Burns, attracted 14,500 visitors representing an increase of 179 per cent on baseline exhibition attendance and surpassing the venue’s previously most successful exhibition by 95 per cent.
5.2 Events Programme
With more than 300 events in the programme, new attractions such as ‘Inspired’, ‘Creative Burns’, ‘This Is Who We Are’ and the ‘Famous Scots’
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genealogy exhibition are regularly going live in the calendar, adding layer upon layer of activities around Scotland. Highlights in April include the Edinburgh International Science Festival, Melrose Sevens Inspired, and the Scottish Family History Fair. The programme is moving into full swing - the next signature event is Whisky Month in May, which is expected to attract around 30,000 additional visitors to featured festivals and shows with participating distilleries anticipating a rise in visitor numbers.
Continuing through to the summer The Gathering 2009, with four months still to go, 6400 of a capacity 8000 ‘passports’ have been sold, which allow the holder entry to both days of the Scottish Festival and Highland Games, a place in the Clan Parade, and a seat for the Historic Pageant. Of those sold, 38% have gone to the USA, 35% to the UK, 10% Canada, 7% Australia, 2% New Zealand and 8% to the rest of the world. Sales to the rest of the world include: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Columbia, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates.
Tickets for the Highland Games/Scottish festival continue to sell steadily. More than 1000 have been sold; this figure includes family tickets, and 47% of sales are for two-day tickets, going to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Wales.
5.3 Marketing
The Homecoming Scotland marketing campaign is an excellent example of local activity that when combined with the reach, size and scale of VisitScotland and EventScotland delivers maximum benefit for local areas and Scotland as a whole. This success can largely be attributed to a world-wide marketing and PR drive by VisitScotland and EventScotland in more than 40 countries where we are using a mixture of advertising, PR, direct mail, e- communications, TV and radio advertising. Supported by VisitBritain, Homecoming Scotland information is being published on thousands of websites across the world and has been translated into 19 languages including Russian, Mandarin and Japanese. Our work on emerging markets has included bringing 50 key Indian travel agents to Scotland and major sales missions to Russia, China and Japan for meetings with hundreds of travel agents to sell Homecoming. A full outline of the Homecoming Scotland 2009 marketing activity carried out by EventScotland and VisitScotland across all our markets is appended to this submission. In addition, it is important to consider the Homecoming Scotland 2009 messaging being delivered by the events themselves, which includes the 100 funded events and more than 200 partner events. This multiplies into a very powerful ‘extra’ marketing push for the year.
We are currently communicating monthly with more than one million people and our American website is seeing three times the normal visitor numbers accessing information. We are working with more than 2500 Diaspora
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groups across the world to help spread the Homecoming message. Our “I am a Scot” Homecoming marketing campaign is reaching 95 million people around the globe, including a major partnership with National Geographic Magazine which will reach a readership of 25 million people alone.
Drive It Home, a campaign offering a free four-ball at one of 100 courses across the country, was a sell-out success with demand from the USA, Canada and Sweden for the 2,200 free four-ball slots being so high that golfers were registering for the scheme every five minutes. A second phase of this promotion will launch in April.
In the UK more than seven million people have now seen the Caledonia advert, a survey showed that 88% of them felt more positive towards Scotland after seeing it. Across the world millions more have seen it on TV in America and through You Tube and other social networking sites.
More than 200 overseas and UK travel and lifestyle journalists have been hosted by VisitScotland on press trips with a focus on Homecoming. Already more that 2500 articles have been written about the celebration.
From mid-2008 onwards tailored information on Homecoming has been included in mailshots to 260,000 UK consumers through our relationship marketing programme.
Around 2 million UK consumers have seen Homecoming press adverts in key magazines in Autumn including Coast Magazine, Good Housekeeping and Guardian Weekend, Sainsburys Magazine and the Observer.
Half a million London consumers have seen 25 large outdoor posters around the main arterial routes in London and digital advertising in over 30 underground stations in Autumn 2008. In the last six months we have recorded some 750,000 user sessions on Homecoming specific websites.
5.4 Partnerships
The whole country is involved: support is being provided by both public and private sectors. Every local authority is involved along with community groups, cultural bodies, festivals and other agencies like the National Archives and Historic Scotland. More than 30 world-wide brands and companies, from First Bus and Continental Airlines to Clydesdale Bank and Walkers Shortbread have invested in the project helping us to spread the message to millions of new audiences across the world. More than 9000 external websites are linking to the Homecoming website.
The Scottish Homecoming Cup will promote Homecoming Scotland to a huge global audience - around 4 million people in 40 countries watched the Scottish Cup in 2007.
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5.5 Additional Value from Homecoming Scotland 2009
As an organisation we focus on yield or tourism revenue rather than on straightforward visitor numbers. Essentially, we look to measure the net positive difference which results from the intervention of EventScotland and VisitScotland. The target we have agreed with the Scottish Government is to deliver an 8:1 return on the core investment of £5.5 million by generating an additional £44 million of tourism revenue for Scotland in 2009. However, we would estimate that this would equate to at least 100,000 to 152,000 additional visitors to Scotland.
Attributing a volume figure to the added value to be generated by Homecoming is not an exact science as there are a number of potential combinations. It could be assumed that all £44 million added value will come from additional visitors. However, it is likely that some increased spend will be leveraged from visitors due to their attendance at Homecoming Scotland 2009 events that are taking place during their visit i.e. their visit may not be directly attributed to Homecoming, but additional spend will be directly attributable to Homecoming events.
The other issue that must be taken into account is that spend per trip (as per Table 1 below) varies significantly by market (i.e. from £487 per overseas visitor to £131 per Scottish visitor). Therefore, based on the overall average spend per visit of £263 we would anticipate approximately 150,000 additional visitors as a direct result of Homecoming. In contrast, taking the overseas average spend of £487, we end up with an estimate of 82,000 additional visits.
Table 1: Average Length of Stay and Spend Length of stay Spend per trip Spend per night (nights) (£) (£) Scottish 2.9 131 46 English 4.4 287 65 Rest of the UK 3.4 355 105 All UK 3.6 216 60 All overseas 8.8 487 55 All 4.5 263 58
In reality, as a result of our marketing activity in both the UK and overseas we would expect a combination of domestic and international visitors. Therefore, we would estimate additional visits as a direct result of Homecoming of at least 100,000, this is somewhere in between the two figures above, but tends slightly towards an international bias in visitors for Homecoming (i.e. generating a higher spend per visit and thus a slightly lower volume of visits for the £44 million additional revenue).
6. Additional Information
We are aware that the Committee will be returning to its inquiry into tourism revenue growth later this year. However, we thought it would be useful to
21 EET/S3/09/12/2 update the Committee on some immediate in-roads that we have made. Examples of this include:
• VisitScotland.com - we have brought the site in-house as recommended by the previous Tourism Inquiry. The decision to do this was based on the fact that the original visitscotland.com concept and business model was not meeting the needs of industry and had to change. The future direction of the site is being driven by the industry. To that end we have had an initial meeting of an industry working group to set out what the industry would like to see the site deliver. This is just the first step in the journey, further consultation and engagement will follow. • Review of local marketing and information provision - a strategy has been developed to provide the nation with a coordinated network that compliments differing demand around the country and that takes advantage of the latest communication methods. From this point onwards our Visitor Information Centres will be an integral part of the marketing mix with new activity aimed at raising awareness and giving visitors an experience that exceeds their expectations. We are also developing an outreach and partnership strategy to take our reach beyond our fixed network. Indeed, when VisitScotland gave evidence to the Economy, Energy & Tourism Committee during its Tourism Inquiry, Fort William Visitor Information Centre was raised. We are exceptionally proud that the Fort William Information Centre is the first centre in Scotland to be transformed into a new VisitScotland Information Centre using our new brand and based on our detailed consumer research. • Long-term Review of Quality & Standards - our Quality Assurance schemes are recognised both in Scotland and worldwide as providing a high profile single standard to promote and maintain quality standards. But, we recognise that the rapid growth of on-line consumer information provides opportunities to look at ways of working innovatively and driving our long-term ambitions by meeting our customers' needs more effectively. We are dictating the outcome but we are working with the Scottish Tourism Forum to get a wide range of industry input to help determine what the role of VisitScotland should or shouldn't be in achieving our collective ambitions. • Local Engagement Review - It is clear that achieving engagement at a local level is central to improving Scottish tourism and making progress towards growth as set out in the TFFC. In addition, improving local engagement is a stated priority of Scottish Ministers. We have asked the Scottish Tourism Forum to lead this piece of work for us to identify the key characteristics or Critical Success Factors for achieving successful local engagement. And crucially, recommended solutions for effective local engagement consistent with the refreshed TFFC.
7. Summary
In summary, we believe that the breadth of activity delivered by VisitScotland: such as our international reach, consumer databases, partnerships with multi-
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national partners, consumer research and our effective response to the economic environment with our partner agencies could not be achieved by a range of competing and duplicating organisations. We recognise that it is crucial we work in partnerships throughout Scotland and incorporate diverse views and needs. VisitScotland is better placed than ever before to deliver effectively and bring together the best of what our businesses and communities have to offer and to showcase them to potential visitors both at home and overseas. However, we realise there is always more that can be done and we are working hard to be more responsive to the needs of industry and our local authority partners, but that we have already made good progress.
We are in a difficult environment, but the industry will come through it. What is important is how we emerge at the other side. It is crucial that we take the right action and make the right interventions to shape this. We have immediate challenges, but as an organisation we are working with our partners to address them and through our marketing powerfully communicating that there has never been a better time to visit or stay in Scotland.
We recognise that we cannot address the current challenges in isolation – partnership working is essential. At the back of our minds we must have those 200 other countries that are competing for our visitors. We will only achieve that growth potential and long-term success if industry, Government and the public sector continue to work together to focus on the leverage points identified in the refreshed TFFC.
Overall, we must not lose sight of the fact that Scottish tourism remains extremely strong and has undoubted potential for growth.
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Agenda item 2 EET/S3/09/12/3
1 April 2009
Economy, Energy & Tourism Committee
Tourism factsheet – March 2009
The following factsheet highlights recent trends within the tourism industry in Scotland by looking at trends in:
The volume and value of tourism Visitor attraction numbers Accommodation occupancy Air passenger traffic Business sentiment
On the whole, data suggests that 2008 was a challenging year for the tourism industry in Scotland with spend, visitor numbers, passenger numbers and occupancy rates down on those in 2007 – in some cases more so than that in the UK. The continuing economic downturn is likely to intensify these challenges through 2009 with evidence that businesses are not planning further recruitment and are exercising caution in investment plans. There is not enough evidence to date to show whether or not the Year of Homecoming is having a significant mitigating impact on these trends.
Volume and value of tourism The value of tourism spend in 2007 was estimated at £4,203 million. This represents 98% of the value of tourism in 2006 (in real terms) – the base year for the Tourism Framework for Change which aspires to increase tourism revenue by 50% (in real terms) by 2015.
Table 1 – Volume & value of tourism (in real terms) as % of that in 2006 Year Trips Nights Spend 2006 100 100 100 2007 99 98 98 Source: VisitScotland Tourism in Scotland 2006 and 2007, 2009
Volume and value data is not yet available for the whole of 2008. However, data on UK tourism to Scotland for the first ten months of 2008 indicates that there has been a decline in both Trips (-3.8%) and Spend (-0.7%) compared to the same period in 2007. In the rest of the UK Trips have declined to a lesser extent (-2.8%) and Spend has increased (1.9%). The Scottish results appear to be due to a drop in domestic trips, particularly with regard to visitors from the far south of the UK, cutbacks in business trips and a decline in the family market (VisitScotland, 2009).
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Visitor attraction numbers The latest Visitor Attraction Barometer is for October 2008 and reported that visitor numbers at responding attractions were down on that in October 2007 by -12.3%. Both free and paid attractions experienced decreases in visitor numbers of -14.8% and -6.6% respectively (VisitScotland Visitor Attraction Barometer, 2009).
The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) also produces visitor statistics. Of the ten most popular Scottish visitor attractions in membership with ALVA nine experienced a decline in visitor numbers in 2008, as shown in Table 2. This compares to just three of the top ten UK visitor attractions experiencing a decline.
Table 2 – Visits to visitor attractions in membership with ALVA in 2008
Visitor attraction Visits in 08 Change on 07 Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum 1,445,098 -35.3% Edinburgh Castle 1,128,394 -8.0% National Gallery Edinburgh 842,958 -10.3% National Museum of Scotland 614,894 -27.0% Gallery of Modern Art 562,595 -18.8% The Falkirk Wheel 500,829 -2.5% National War Museum 474,133 1.0% Museum of Transport 456,324 -14.8% Stirling Castle 403,778 -8.0% Urquhart Castle 270,097 -3.0% Source: ALVA, 2009
Accommodation occupancy Annual average occupancy rates declined in all types of accommodation except hostels over the period 2007 to 2008, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 – Annual average occupancy rates 2007 and 2008 70 2007 60 2008 50
40
30
20
10
Annual Average Occupancy Rate (%) Rate Occupancy Average Annual 0
m &B ing B r Hostel Roo H& el G /Cate S Hot Caravan&Camp
Source: VisitScotland, 2009 Note – 2008 figures are provisional.
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Looking at figures for 2009, the LJForecaster indicated a reduction in hotel bookings within Edinburgh and Glasgow in January compared with the previous year. Bookings for February to April in Edinburgh are broadly consistent with those in 2008, but bookings for May and June are down. Glasgow bookings for February to April are up on the previous year, but broadly consistent for May and June (VisitScotland, 2009). During these uncertain times revenue management and the ability to offer competitive pricing is necessary for serviced accommodation providers (VisitScotland Monthly Tourism Industry Trends, 2009). Many large corporate hotels are using heavy discounts to retain and attract custom (VisitScotland, 2009).
Airport passenger traffic Statistics from BAA show that since May 2008 passenger numbers have been consistently lower than they were the previous year, as shown in Figure 2. February 2009 saw the sharpest decline, with passenger numbers 14.6% lower than in February 2008 - driven by difficult economic circumstances, severe weather and the fact that there was one less day in February this year. Year on year, the Scottish airports carried 3.6% fewer passengers in 2008 compared to 2007, this compares to a drop of 2.8% in the UK.
Figure 2 – Scottish BAA passenger numbers 2008-09
6 4 Scottish BAA Passenger Numbers 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8
Annual change (%) -10 -12 -14 -16 Jul-08 Apr-08 Oct-08 Jan-08 Jun-08 Jan-09 Feb-08 Mar-08 Feb-09 Aug-08 Sep-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 May-08 Source: BAA, 2009 (Note – BAA airports in Scotland are Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen)
The Year of Homecoming The Scottish Government aims to achieve an additional £40 million in tourism revenue during the Year of Homecoming. In January 2009 it stated that: More than one million people engaging with VisitScotland per month are exposed to the Homecoming message. Homecoming websites attracted over 340,000 user sessions to end 2008. In the month of November, the two principal websites attracted 100,000 user enquiries, equating to one visitor every 35 seconds. A You Gov poll in early December 2008 showed that 66% of Scottish people are aware of Homecoming (Scottish Parliament PQ 19787, 2009).
The Scottish Government also outlined that three main strands of detailed assessments of specific events and campaigns will be carried out:
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1. Conversion studies of VisitScotland marketing activity in Canada and US. 2. Event organiser outcome reports of each event. 3. Six waves of omnibus surveys to assess awareness in Scotland (Scottish Parliament PQ 19785, 2009).
Business sentiment VisitScotland undertook an Economic Conditions Poll, published in December 2008, to determine the effect of the economic downturn on tourism businesses. The following key points were raised: Overall sentiment is fairly negative but business sentiment becomes slightly more positive further into 2009 and the vast majority plan on retaining staffing levels as they currently are throughout the coming year. Despite this, the majority of respondents do not have plans for further recruitment and plan to exercise a degree of caution in terms of future investment plans in light of tighter lending criteria. The majority of respondents felt strongly that refocusing of marketing efforts on the immediate areas of opportunity and the freezing of VisitScotland prices at 2008 levels would help their businesses (VisitScotland, 2008). VisitScotland have since agreed to freeze prices on the core products/marketing opportunities that businesses buy (VisitScotland, 2009).
Scherie Nicol SPICe Research March 2009
Note: Committee briefing papers are provided by SPICe for the use of Scottish Parliament committees and clerking staff. They provide focused information or respond to specific questions or areas of interest to committees and are not intended to offer comprehensive coverage of a subject area.
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