Tourism Facilities & Visitor Services Baseline Report 2019 Produced as part of the Wester Ross Destination Management Plan preliminary research Context Upwards of an estimated c.100,000 tourists visit Wester Ross each year, sustaining local communities through their input to the local economy and tourism accounts for 35% of employment1. However, in the current climate (Summer 2019) there are concerns that a rise in tourism of up to 27% (estimate2) over the past few years may not be sustainable. Although a different perspective is that this has followed a deep recession in the tourism industry and visitor numbers have yet to return to the high levels enjoyed during the 1990s. The current situation is exacerbated by Local Authority and Public Agency budget cuts which have resulted in plans to close public toilets and a deterioration in road quality. In addition, the type of visitor has changed, Wester Ross is welcoming large amounts of campervans which require waste disposal facilities which are not yet in place. Local people are reporting over-flowing carparks and bins, increasing litter pollution and irresponsible behaviour. It is not unusual for local residents to cite increased litter as a negative aspect of tourism3 and this together with other perceived negative impacts can become challenging to tourism development as the host community begin to view visitors less than favourably. Therefore, the World Tourism Organisation advises regions to adopt a model for tourism management which considers the social as well as economic and environmental impacts of tourism4. Mass tourism is not going away5, and currently, there is no hard-empirical evidence on visitor numbers, expectations and behaviour or condition of assets in Wester Ross which would allow communities, businesses, local authorities and public agencies to plan proactively. Tourism management in Wester Ross appears to be reactive whereas successful sustainable tourism must involve proactive planning and joint working. Without a strategic approach which considers all aspects 1 Wester Ross Biosphere. Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve Application. UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. Biosphere reserve nomination form. September 2015. (Complemented by conversations with Visit Wester Ross.) 2 University of Glasgow. Highlands and Islands Enterprise. North Coast 500 Economic Baseline Study. June 2017. 49 p. 3 E.g. Tourism Development International. Judith A Annett Countryside Consultancy. Rathlin Island Sustainable Development Strategy. June 2005. 4 World Tourism Organisation. Definition of sustainable tourism: www.sdt.unwto.org/content/about-us-5 (accessed September 2018) 5 Sampson, J. Danelutti, C. Destimed and MEET (The Mediterranean experience of ecotourism): A regional approach to developing, managing and promoting ecotourism in protected areas. Presented to 8th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks. Madonna di Campiglio. September 2018. of the visitor experience, the impact on the environment, publicly owned assets and cultural heritage could eventually damage economic development and quality of life and so careful attention must be paid to understand these issues more thoroughly. Through the Sustainable Heritage Areas: Partnerships for Ecotourism project, the Wester Ross Biosphere has been awarded funds from the EU Northern Periphery and Arctic Program to help create a more sustainable tourism environment in Wester Ross. Through the development of the project we have identified that there is a case for instigating a Destination Management Plan partnership to create a sustainable tourism culture in Wester Ross. Background Public sector representatives met in January 2019 to discuss the Wester Ross Biosphere’s proposal to produce a DMP that identifies the roles of the different stakeholders (involved in the visitor experience), sets out clear actions and shows where resources are required or available already either by existing commitments or by moving them around. The proposed DMP approach was enthusiastically received, particularly in terms of its call for pooling resources, sharing responsibilities and genuine collaboration with communities and businesses. Agreement was made between Visit Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Highland Council to take an active role: “Coordinating and supporting the management of the aspects of Wester Ross which contribute to a visitor’s experience, taking account of the needs of visitors, local residents, businesses and the environment to ensure future sustainability”. The Destination Management Plan should be based on a sound knowledge and assessment of all the features of Wester Ross that relate to the visitor economy. The purpose of this report is to gather evidence to the DMP on the current status of Tourism Facilities (including accommodation, catering, attractions, activities, events and retail relevant to tourists) in Wester Ross and the opportunities and challenges they present. It will also demonstrate a matrix tool for the assessment of touristic potential of selected visitor attractions. This will help inform the identification of management objectives and priorities to achieve the following outcomes and aims. Outcomes This report will directly contribute to the two main outcomes identified of the Destination Management Plan for Wester Ross: #1: Wester Ross is being managed as a Sustainable Tourism Destination by a stakeholder partnership #2: There is a culture in Wester Ross of welcoming visitors and a positive vibe about future tourism Aims Five priority areas have been identified during the initial set-up phase; 1) Creating an identity and sense of place in Wester Ross 2) Community Ownership/Buy-in/Empowerment 2 3) A better defined destination 4) Get a ‘better idea’ of carrying capacity 5) Business Engagement Methods This audit accounts for tourism facilities and businesses in the entire Wester Ross Biosphere area. It partly complements and refreshes the 2015 study conducted by Douglas Ritchie from Tourism and Leisure Solutions for Visit Wester Ross, which covered a smaller area and some parts out with the Biosphere such as Strathpeffer or Elphin. Desktop research was conducted to set up a business database for our region encompassing all sectors with the following categories: Accommodation; Food & Drink; Attractions; Activity Providers; Events; and all the relevant retail which includes Arts & Crafts, General Retail and Trades & Services. Some businesses are not obviously related to tourism, but we see this sector as relying on a well-functioning society in its entirety which is why we chose not to limit our research to one category of businesses. Some businesses operate under more than one category and are therefore accounted for in each relevant section to reflect their varied offerings. We did not include non-managed facilities such as bothies or campsite with no facilities. For every item we gathered contact details, as well as further information such as the number of bed spaces available for accommodation, the date and frequency of events or for each type of business a subcategory (see results below). Sometimes there was a need for a clearer definition which is detailed in the appropriate section. Location was linked to nearest bigger settlements and is therefore relatively inaccurate. Bed counting was made based on the information provided by businesses either online or following a telephone conversation. For campsites, we counted an average capacity of 2 persons per pitch as in the 2015 audit. Sometimes beds are not properly broken down by category (self-catering, hotel etc.) because a single business owns several accommodation units and all beds are counted together. All data were obtained through gathering of mostly online but also printed sources. We also undertook research drives within the Biosphere, looking for attractions in particular, and noted facilities we came across that may not have been documented. However, like all of the audits of this nature, our study is bound to present some degree of inaccuracy. It is heavily reliant on the quality of information sources which are not always kept up-to-date or have changing names on multiple advertising channels, which leads to double entries or the inclusion of businesses that are no longer operating. Airbnb for example makes it difficult to identify whether the accommodation is serviced or not. Some data is also missing as some businesses do not have an online presence or did not indicate to us the number of available bed spaces. This means that this database needs to be kept up-to-date and amended in the future. Results for Tourism Facilities Accommodation Accommodation businesses within the Wester Ross Biosphere are varied. They range from seasonal bed and breakfast in the form of a room in the owner’s house to the professional letting agency covering more than a dozen of self-catering properties Some of the businesses have a bed and 3 breakfast as well as one or more self-catering accommodations and sometimes even offer a café or activities at the same time. This shows that some of our tourism businesses can fall into multiple categories. There are at least 1207 accommodation units within the Wester Ross Biosphere, which suggests a somewhat smaller number of individual businesses in the sector, possibly around 900. However, it is difficult to count businesses because a number of them are advertised on external websites which do not reveal the owner names. It also is not always clear that