Tourism Facilities & Visitor Services Baseline Report 2019

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

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

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 two or more accommodation units belong to the same enterprise because they are advertised separately. Furthermore, accommodation facilities can be quite informal which can question the definition of a business in this context.

A bed count attempted to identify the accommodation capacity of the Biosphere area reached over 10 000 bed spaces per night during the tourist season. With a resident population just above 80006, it means that the arrival of visitors could more than double the regional population. It is however crucial to note that this estimate applies to the theoretical situation of all accommodation units being used at their full capacity which is not currently happening.

Accommodation units and bed spaces were classified in six categories: camping and caravanning sites (C&C), guest houses and bed and breakfasts (GH/B&B), hostels, hotels and self-catering properties (SC). The overwhelming majority of them are self-catering units with 76% of the total, the rest being mainly bed and breakfast accommodation (18%).

Accommodation units by Category

2% 18% C&C 1% GH/B&B 3% Hostel Hotel 76% SC

The distribution is not the same for bed spaces: 47% of them are offered by self-catering properties, but quite an important proportion of the bed capacity lies in camping and caravanning sites with 25% of the total.7

6 Wester Ross Biosphere. Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve Application. UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. Biosphere reserve nomination form. September 2015. p. 47

7 Bed occupancy figures were unfortunately not communicated by Visit Scotland.

Bed spaces by Category

C&C 25% GH/B&B 47% Hostel 12% Hotel 3% SC 13%

These results are mostly in line with trends identified in the few previous existing studies. Self-catering seems to have been the most important accommodation sector for at least a decade. The Wester Ross Facts & Figures appendix to the Wester Ross Local Plan in 2006 already pointed out that 23.1% of the local housing stock was second or holiday homes compared to 6.2% in the wider Highlands8. In 2015, 70% of peak season bed spaces were identified in the non-serviced accommodation sector by the Visit Wester Ross audit, while the 2018 refreshed survey came to 60%9. This could be explained by the difficulty to sell properties or businesses trying to move out, rather than by businesses intending to attract new customers10. In comparison, it is suggested by the Visit Wester Ross audit that the B&B sector has shrunk in size since the 1980s and 1990s11. Its nature seemed to have changed from many “local householders [who] would informally open up their spare rooms to visitors for a restricted two- month peak period” to “more formal, professional businesses operating for a longer period over the year”12. Some evidence was found of new B&B opening in the area, using more and more online platforms such as the Airbnb website, which is joined by both new entrants and long-established operators using a new marketing channel13.

At least a third of the audited accommodation businesses are advertised via an external website. In most cases, these do not have their own independent website which they sometimes advertise by online providers such as Airbnb, Booking, lhhscotland.com, Cottages & Castles, Cottages.com, etc. A

8 Ritchie, Douglas. Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Draft Four. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. September 2015. 62 p. 9 Ritchie, Douglas. Visit Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Update & Refresh. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. May 2018. 32 p. 10 Ritchie, Douglas. Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Draft Four. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. September 2015. 62 p. 11 Ritchie, Douglas. Visit Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Update & Refresh. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. May 2018. 32 p. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid.

minority however use both methods to attract their customers. A thorough research on Airbnb identified 331 accommodation units on the website which indicates a strong upwards trend, compared to the VWR 2018 audit which counted 65. Some businesses also advertise via the Visit Scotland website and/through local development trust websites. Some B&Bs are still staying outside of the Internet and seem to get visitors solely by putting a sign by the side of the road.

Accommodation units and bed spaces are concentrated in the main settlements, although there is an offering spread in the rest of the Biosphere area. Some 17% of accommodation units are located in Ullapool, 13% in Gairloch, 10% in Lochcarron, as well as 9% in Plockton and 8% in Kyle of Lochalsh.

Bed spaces are also concentrated in the largest villages, although the disparity is starker as Ullapool and Gairloch can clearly host more visitors than all other locations, with 21% of bed spaces for Ullapool and 18% for Gairloch. These are followed by Lochcarron (7%), Achiltibuie, Kyle and Plockton (all with 6%). Although part of the difference can be explained by the presence of large campsites, a calculation excluding campsites still shows that both Ullapool and Gairloch can accommodate many more visitors than other villages.

A grouping by subregion confirms again the conclusion that most of the offering is located in the North around the two settlements, with Coigach & Lochbroom accounting for 23% of accommodation units and 28% of bed spaces, while Gairloch and Loch Ewe have 21% of accommodation units and 25% of bed spaces in Wester Ross. In comparison, smaller villages such as Achnasheen, Arnisdale, Dundonnell, Stromeferry or Kinlochewe have the lowest numbers for accommodation which is probably to be explained by their size and/or location. Accommodation (Units and Beds) by Location

Units % Beds % Achiltibuie 64 5 575 6 Achnasheen 9 1 91 1 Applecross 51 4 461 5 Arnisdale 8 1 46 0 Aultbea 26 2 153 2 Dornie 71 6 365 4 Dundonnell 13 1 149 1 Gairloch 156 13 1755 18 Garve 19 2 240 2 Glenelg 56 5 361 4 Kinlochewe 18 1 226 2 Kyle of Lochalsh 92 8 611 6 Laide 21 2 190 2 Lochcarron 119 10 667 7 Plockton 109 9 572 6

Poolewe 51 4 378 4 Shiel Bridge 21 2 464 5 Shieldaig 39 3 222 2 Stromeferry 14 1 71 1 Torridon 49 4 360 4 Ullapool 201 17 2053 21 Total 1207 100 10010 100

ACCOMMODATION UNITS BY LOCATION

Achiltibuie Achnasheen Ullapool Applecross Arnisdale Aultbea

Dornie

Torridon Dundonnell Stromeferry

Shieldaig

Shiel Bridge Gairloch

Poolewe

Garve Plockton Glenelg Kinlochewe

Lochcarron Kyle of Lochalsh Laide

BED SPACES BY LOCATION

Achiltibuie Achnasheen Applecross Ullapool Arnisdale Aultbea

Dornie

Dundonnell

Torridon

Stromeferry Shieldaig Gairloch

Shiel Bridge

Poolewe

Garve Plockton Glenelg Kinlochewe Lochcarron Laide Kyle of Lochalsh

Accommodation units by Subregion

Coigach & Lochbroom

Gairloch & Loch Ewe 6% 15% 23% Shieldaig, Applecross, Torridon & Kinlochewe Lochcarron & Garve 10%

21% Plockton & Stromeferry 12% 13% Dornie, Kyle, Shiel Bridge

Glenelg

Bed spaces by Subregion

Coigach & Lochbroom

Gairloch & Loch Ewe 4% 14% 28% Shieldaig, Applecross, Torridon & Kinlochewe 6% Lochcarron & Garve

10% Plockton & Stromeferry

13% 25% Dornie, Kyle, Shiel Bridge

Glenelg

There is still a need for quantitative research about seasonality in the accommodation sector, as a consequent yet unidentified number of businesses are not operating in the winter months between October and April.

It is worth mentioning that the accommodation sector has an important role in the management of visitors. Either by informally making recommendations to their guests or by publicly advertising on their websites, they can direct tourists towards restaurants, attractions, activities or events.

Businesses therefore influence the flow of tourists and could potentially divert guests to certain locations over others.

Food & Drink The desktop research enabled the identification of 122 food and drink related businesses in the Wester Ross Biosphere area. Some of them have several catering venues which is why 125 units were counted for this section.

We classified the businesses in seven categories: Brewery/Distillery, Café, Delicatessen, Ice-Cream Parlour, Restaurant, Smokehouse, Sweets and Take-away. 112 out of 125, i.e. most of the food and drink entries can be considered places to eat (cafés, restaurants and take-aways), while other categories can be grouped as other food and drink related businesses offering local produce.

Food & Drink by Category

2% Brewery / Distillery 9% 3% Cafe 4% Delicatessen 36% Ice-cream Restaurant Smokehouse 44% 1% Sweets Take-away 1%

Places to eat are spread all around the Biosphere, but their concentration is higher in the largest settlements with 21% of them located in Ullapool, 15% in Gairloch, 11% in Kyle of Lochalsh and 8% in Lochcarron. A more focussed breakdown by subregion confirms this trend of a relatively even distribution where however Coigach and Lochbroom as well as Gairloch and Loch Ewe reveal a high concentration of the offering in the northern part of WRB.

Places to eat by Location

Units % Achiltibuie 4 4 Achnasheen 2 2 Applecross 3 3 Arnisdale 2 2 Aultbea 3 3 Dornie 5 4 Dundonnell 2 2 Gairloch 17 15 Garve 3 3 Glenelg 4 4 Kinlochewe 3 3 Kyle of Lochalsh 12 11 Lochcarron 9 8 Plockton 6 5 Poolewe 4 4 Shiel Bridge 1 1 Shieldaig 4 4 Torridon 5 4 Ullapool 23 21 Total 112 100

Map of Food & Drink businesses

Categories

Nature & Environment Museum Beach Castle & Monuments Gardens Information office Others

We used the Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor over recent decades as well the archives in Inverness to access the visitor numbers for attractions represented in the table below. These numbers have to be treated with care, as some of them are estimates (in cursive) or likely to be mistakes (in yellow)15.

15 Following a telephone conversation with Douglas Ritchie, we learnt that for a couple of years figures for conjointly managed NTS properties Corrieshalloch Gorge and Inverewe Gardens were added together which led to some exaggerated numbers.

Sources for these figures are HIDB Visitor Attractions Statistics: Highlands & Islands 1989 and Moffat Centre Visitor Attraction Monitor Reports from 2010 to 2018.

It seems that overall visitor numbers have been increasing over the last decade, particularly in the last few years, although there have been numerous upwards and downwards trends from 2009 to 2018. Some attractions appear to have made a great deal of progress such as the Beinn Eighe Visitor Centre and Balmacara Estate, whereas for others including Inverewe Gardens and the Torridon Countryside Centre, the current visitor numbers are still below those of 1989.

Attraction Visitor Numbers 1989 – 2018 1989 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Corrieshalloch 106,989 67,136 63,279 76,065 113,730 140,328 110,573 Gorge Inverewe Gardens 137,999 76,322 72,767 67,031 63,156 62,610 62,734 56,451 91,576 191,951 80,913 Balmacara Estate & Lochalsh Woodland 4,609 28,676 44,706 52,391 48,444 46,851 53,801 61,736 Garden Torridon 17,713 4, 615 4,620 18,349 36,334 53,496 36,106 50,281 49,127 51,539 Countryside Centre Beinn Eighe NNR 6,347 13,064 10,488 10,445 9,537 11,971 13,000 13,919 14,415 18,977 19,981 Visitor Centre Knockan Crag 6,658 8,485 10,466 11,701 11,763 7,739 7,044 3,470 14,592 Visitor Centre Kintail Estate 8,327 12,424 10,845 9,550 14,425 14,939 14,294 Attadale Gardens 4,960 5,900 5,645 5,144 5,077 5,639 5,318 6,689 6,493 7,148 5,911 Gairloch Heritage 5,332 5,610 5,462 or 6,124 6,584 6,677 6,903 6,616 Museum 4,911 Ullapool Museum 10,200 1,209 6,676 5,403 5,565 5,041 6,007 and Visitor Centre Eilean Donan Castle 314,636 314,199 323,572 319,527 354,424 377,717 and Visitor Centre Seaprobe Atlantis 16,941 16,493 15,828 Glassbottom Boat West Highland Closed 2,358 2,358 3,661 Dairy 2019

According to Visit Wester Ross, reasons for growth in visitor numbers could be the NC500, as well as external factors such as consumer concerns about the safety of overseas destinations, favourable exchange rates or higher media coverage of the Highlands and Islands. Large local investments such as the refurbishment of the Gairloch Heritage Museum which reopened in June 2019 could also be explanatory factors. Activities The audit recorded 76 activity providers. Most of these businesses are located within the Biosphere area, whilst a few are located out with but still providing activities within the WRB.

While most businesses concentrate on one single activity, 14 of the collated ones offer several. We classified activities into fifteen categories, reflecting a great variety but also the importance of outdoors and natural environment in Wester Ross. Indoor and all-weather activities are much less

developed. This confirms the trend observed by Tourism and Leisure Solutions in their 2015 audit, which noted the particular support for marine tourism development16.

Indeed, 17% of activities are recorded as marine which covers sea wildlife watching, diving and local cruises. Guiding represents 16% of the activities, although the figure could be higher if we counted more companies from out with the Biosphere. The third most frequent activity is kayaking with 14% of the total. Cycling and sporting are also noteworthy with respectively 10% an 9% of the providers offering this activity. In addition, there are a variety of other activities, such as fishing, sailing and boat hire, arts, indoors, golf, pony trekking…

Businesses offering this activity % Arts 4 4 Boat hire 3 3 Cycling 9 10 Equestrian 2 2 Fishing 6 6 Golf 3 3 Guiding 15 16 Indoors 4 4 Kayaking 13 14 Marine 16 17 Outdoors 4 4 Retreats 1 1 Sailing 4 4 Sporting 8 9 Wildlife watching 1 1 Total 93 100

16 Ritchie, Douglas. Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Draft Four. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. September 2015. 62 p.

Activities by Category

Arts Boat hire Cycling Equestrian Fishing Golf Guiding Indoors Kayaking Marine Outdoors Retreats Sailing Sporting Wildlife watching

We counted separately clubs as the activities offered are more directed at locals than tourists. We found 9 clubs mostly covering shinty, sailing or rowing.

A majority of activity providers are based around Gairloch (20%), Ullapool (14%), Achiltibuie (11%) and Lochcarron (8%), that is again around the main settlements but mainly in the North of the Biosphere. There are overall less activity providers in the south and we counted only one for Glenelg.

Businesses % Achiltibuie 8 11 Achnasheen 2 3 Applecross 1 1 Aultbea 1 1 Dornie 1 1 Dundonnell 3 4 Gairloch 15 20 Garve 3 4 Glenelg 1 1 Kinlochewe 1 1 Kyle of Lochalsh 4 5 Lochcarron 6 8 Plockton 4 5 Poolewe 2 3 Shieldaig 3 4 Shiel Bridge 3 4 Torridon 3 4

Ullapool 11 14 Wester Ross 4 5 Total 76 100

Map of Activities

Events This audit counted a total of 248 events within the Wester Ross Biosphere area, which is assumed to be a lot less than the actual numbers of events happening in the region. This is due to the advertising methods and channels used by organisers, making them hard to spot only as part of a desktop research. Indeed, some community websites are not actualised, particularly in the South of the Biosphere, and many events are believed to be advertised on a mostly local level via notice boards, word of mouth or leaflets. The timing of the research (May) also made it harder to find events that happened in the first part of the year or were happening in the coming months. As a result, only some of the events could be recorded as part of the desktop research.

Events were classified in 16 categories to reflect the content of the offering. Showing once more the importance of Wester Ross’s natural heritage, 31% of the events relate to the environment, including for example themed walks organised by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Highland Countryside Ranger Service. To this number can be added a few events (5%) uniting both culture and environment.

27% of the events are musical events, taking place either in pubs or community halls, some of them on a regular basis or as a one-time event. Arts & crafts events (7%) reveal an important aspect of Wester Ross and an opportunity for local artists and craftspeople to present their works. 5% are sports events including mostly cycling or/and running races that are organised year after year. The same proportion of events are community rather visitor oriented but could theoretically be joined by tourists as well. These categories can be complemented by a variety of others coming in smaller numbers with ceilidhs, festivals, markets, along with gatherings, games nights, theatre representations, cultural heritage-related events. Events by Category

Events % Arts & Crafts 17 7 Ceilidh 8 3 Community 13 5 Concert 68 27 Cultural Heritage 5 2 Culture & Environment 13 5 Dance 1 0 Environment 76 31 Festival 8 3 Games 5 2 Highland Games / Gathering 6 2 Marketing 1 0 Markets 7 3 Sports 13 5 Theatre 6 2 Wellness / Retreats 1 0 Total 248 100

Distribution of Events by Category

Arts & Crafts Ceilidh Community Concert Cultural Heritage Culture & Environment Dance Environment Festival Games Highland Games / Gathering Marketing Markets Sports Theatre Wellness / Retreats

As mentioned earlier, figures must be taken with care as it is believed that many events in some communities were not accounted for. The relevance of the geographical repartition is therefore only limited but would show according to the available data that a vast majority of the events happen in Coigach and Lochbroom (42%), followed by Gairloch and Loch Ewe (25%). Only one event could be found for Glenelg. Map of Events (Cluster View)

Reading key

Environment Concerts Community Sports Arts & Crafts Culture & Environment Others

Most the recorded events were one-time ones (72%), but a number of them take place weekly (11%) which encompasses community clubs, markets, concert and game nights in pubs as well as some of the environment-themed walks. There is also a noteworthy proportion of larger events which are traditionally organised year after year, including gatherings/Highland games, festivals and sports events. Events by Frequency 3% 1% 0%

Monthly

11% Unknown Multiple dates 11% 1% Daily One-time Twice a week 72% Weekly Yearly

The overwhelming majority of events takes place in the summer months, i.e. in the tourist season starting in April and ending in October with 78% of the recorded events happening at this time of the year. Some community events, concerts and walks are however spread outside the season, which enables 14% of the events to take place in the winter and 8% to be regular ones all-year round. Ullapool shows an example of spreading events all-year round, with concerts and game nights organised both in summer and winter.

Events by Season

8% Summer 14% Winter All-year 78% Unknown

Retail relevant to tourists The entire retail sector can be considered of importance for tourism, since sustainability in this industry relies on a well-functioning society in its entirety. Indeed, tourism depends on a workforce

who have different needs than visitors. Although retail directly aimed at tourists is important, a sustainable tourism destination should also have a range of other retail branches to avoid monoculture and keep the community and workforce in healthy condition. Consequently, we started an audit that would consider any sort of business, but it is very far from comprehensive and represents an attempt to give a broader view of tourism facilities. This work is therefore to be continued and focusses for now on retail more directly relevant to visitors.

The arts and crafts sector is a key part of tourism and retail in Wester Ross, whose strength was already noted in Visit Wester Ross’s audit of 201517 We accounted for 78 artists or businesses in the area, covering varied fields such as wool work, pottery, painting, photography and many more. The shops are sometimes related to an activity that has been listed in the activity section of this report. The business can also be a café simultaneously, which is another example of the multifaceted nature of businesses in Wester Ross which can have a very diversified offer. A number of shops for arts and crafts are present, but a proportion of the makers solely sell their works online. Shops in this sector are mostly located in Ullapool (26%), Lochcarron (24%) and Gairloch (12%).

Arts & Crafts by Location

Achiltibuie Applecross Aultbea Dundonnell Gairloch Glenelg Kinlochewe Kyle of Lochalsh Lochcarron Plockton Poolewe Shiel Bridge Shieldaig Torridon Ullapool Wester Ross

Apart from the arts and crafts sector, we counted a minimum of 32 shops throughout Wester Ross, most of them being general stores where visitors can get their groceries and sometimes eat, but also some small specialised retail businesses such as a flower shop, a tree nursery or bookshops which also become cafés… Other facilities of note Following the same principle which states the importance of a well-functioning society to support sustainable tourism, we also started an audit of trades and services which equally needs to be fully documented in the future.

17 Ritchie, Douglas. Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Draft Four. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. September 2015. 62 p.

The recorded 105 businesses can be classified in several categories which we define here. ‘Beauty and Wellness’ covers personal trainers, hairdressers and more. ‘Building, plumbing etc’ includes a very wide range of jobs sometimes all done by a local “handyman” (joining, repairs & maintenance, engineering…). ‘Business services’ can be for example provided by architects, accountants, graphic designers or estate agents. ‘Motorist services’ are both garages and filling stations, whereas ‘Public services’ stand for a variety of services covering banks, post offices, vets, broadband, harbours… Trades are mostly for timber and woodworks. Other categories are self-explanatory.

Proportions are presented in the graphic below, but there are more of an illustration than an accurate reflection given the insufficient data collection in this field. For that reason it did not seem relevant to look at the geographical spread.

A conversation with a local ‘handyman’ business revealed, however, that there are barely enough people doing repairs or building jobs in the central part of the Biosphere at the moment. Some local people offering that service are not officially registered and therefore could not be counted accurately, but there were apparently gaps to be filled, as bigger companies from Dingwall or Inverness would not come all the way for a broken sink but only for larger jobs or would charge a high price for their service.

Trades & Services by Category

Beauty & Wellness 4% Building, plumbing etc 8% Business Services 14% Catering 28% Forestry & Gardening 15% IT Miscellaneous 5% 4% 4% 13% Motorist Services Public Services 5% Trades

It is worth mentioning the existence of a separate transportation sector, with an important and varied number of touring companies operating in Wester Ross, although some of them only drive through the region to stop at Eilean Donan Castle on their way to Skye. There are several local transport services such as ferries, taxi and car hire. There are at least 17 transportation companies, but many more touring operators to add.

Matrix Tool Development

Following our research drive focussing on attractions, we set up a matrix tool to assess attractions’ management and thereby their touristic potential. We already defined attractions by their management features which include the basic trio parking space, road signage and interpretation, plus occasionally an exhibition, toilet, shop or café. Based on the features, we created categories of attractions reflecting the level of management:

- Less than attractionnette18 = Two or less management features - Attractionnette = Trio (parking space, road signage, interpretation) - Attractionnette + = Trio + one additional management feature - Attraction = Trio + two additional management features - Attraction + = Trio + three additional management features - Top attraction = All management features (trio + toilet, shop, café, exhibition etc)

While the matrix was created following these criteria, there were a few exceptions. It is a standard in Scotland that there are not necessarily signs for mountain walks, and beaches are rarely signed. We therefore considered that for these attractions the signage feature was non-applicable but nonetheless carried on with the categorisation. One more exception was Plockton Visitor Centre which does not have the trio but still has an exhibition which is why we counted it in the Attractionnette + category.

It is to be noted that that categorisation is for information regarding management level only and does not aim at grading attraction quality nor does it imply that all attractionnettes should strive to become a top attraction. We do not need a café for every walk or smaller site.

About half of the 48 attractions we accounted for are attractionnettes (23) and slightly less can offer more facilities to the visitors. A third of them are equipped with toilets as part of the attraction or available close-by. The same number offers an exhibition, while less than 20% has a shop or a café.

Identified as top attractions were Kyle Line Museum, Attadale Gardens, Inverewe Gardens, Eilean Donan Castle and Gairloch Heritage Museum, with all facilities available and therefore a high tourist potential.

Wester Ross seems to have a good reserve of attractionnettes and a varied range of more developed attractions. There is a small portion however whose management is not well developed – they are either viewpoints or beaches, along with Strome Castle (Lochcarron) which is very well signed but not very accessible with no parking space available.

18 The use of the new terminology of ‘attractionnette’ reinforces the fact that attractions exist on a scale with a wide range of features and therefore should not be viewed as a homogenous category.”

Attraction features

SHOPS 19 9

EXHIBITION 31 15

CAFÉ 17 8

TOILETS 33 16

SIGNPOSTED 73 35

INTERPRETATION/ INFORMATION 92 44

PARKING 98 47

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

% Number

Management of Attractions Less than attractionnette (6) Attractionnette (23) 10% 13% 10% Attractionnette + (5) 8% Attraction (4)

11% 48% Attraction + (5)

Top attraction (5)

Further assessments should be conducted in the future concerning accessibility, potential for interpretation, safety, conservation, carrying capacity and distance to other sites. Results for Visitor Services Marketing media, Information provision and outlets The main information provision about tourism in Wester Ross is provided by the regional tourism association Visit Wester Ross which manages its website and Facebook page regularly. The website includes a roster for an important number of businesses in the region, a calendar of events, as well as general information for attractions, food & drink, accommodation, etc. They also advertise for a “Wester Ross Good Food Trail” (still under construction) with criteria such as the provision of locally

sourced ingredients19. It also has circulated some publications over time, but nowadays only offers “The 6 LOCHS Tour of Wester Ross” booklet. This is also available as a pdf on their website and serves as a guide for the whole region with tourist information and addresses for shops, restaurants, hotels, etc.

Many localities have also organised themselves and also offer their own website for tourism in their area: Welcome Ullapool, Visit Plockton, Coigach, GALE, Destination Lochcarron, Visit Torridon, two different websites for the Applecross peninsula, the Lochalsh and Isle of Skye tourist guide as well as the Glenelg Arnisdale tourist information tourist guide20. Some of the websites are managed professionally and are updated regularly, while some of them, mostly located at the Southern end of WRB, were set up a while ago and as they might not be supported anymore, tend to have a lot of dead links. The most recent ones have a calendar of events and a practical business list, but all inform visitors about their area and things to do during they stay.

There is also tourist information about the region on the North Coast 500 and VisitScotland.

Although Wester Ross must be mentioned in numerous guides and be the subject of a number of books, we did not find any visitor guide for Wester Ross in particular. Most information online directs users towards VWR’s webpage. There may be additional leaflets and booklets available locally but none that could be identified as part of this desktop research. A reason for this could be that older publications have stopped being circulated. Regarding Wester Ross’s natural heritage specifically, the three following booklets are still sold in local shops but can also be accessed online in the form of a pdf document: Wild Wester Ross, Hills of Wester Ross and Wester Ross Rocks.

There are several information centres within the Biosphere. There is the Ullapool iCentre of Visit Scotland, the GALE centre in Gairloch, the Tourist Information Centre in Kyle as well as the Loch Torridon Community Centre. There is also a Visitor Centre in Plockton and one at Beinn Eighe NNR. Some other places might offer more or less extensive tourist information. Most identified WRB attractions include interpretation panels (44 out of 48), ranging from a descriptive interpretation sign on the roadside to a professionally manned visitor centre.

Local tourist maps are produced for Gairloch and Ullapool by Codair.

Visitors can rightly associate Wester Ross with the Westeros continent from the book and TV series Game of Thrones, as the author Martin himself said that he named it after visiting the Scottish region21. This linkage might be a marketing opportunity for tourism businesses willing to build on it, as many tourists already come to Scotland because of films or TV series.

19 Visit Wester Ross. The Wester Ross Good Food Trail : https://www.visitwester-ross.com/the-wester-ross- food-trail.asp (accessed 06.12.2019) 20 Most of these websites have been used for the tourism facilities audit and are listed in the references at the end of this report. 21 Ferguson, Brian. How Scottish History has inspired Game of Thrones. The Scotsman. 26.04 .2016 : https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/how-scottish-history-has-inspired-game-of-thrones-1-4111633 (accessed 07.12.2019)

Signposting, Car-parking availability and charging and Toilets Signposting is present for most of the attractions we counted (73%). A part of these are brown signs made through an application and payment to Visit Scotland22. These signs however are generally applied to what Visit Scotland considers a Tourist Destination and encompasses facilities such as shops or accommodation. A number of businesses also have their own independent signs of all shapes and sizes. Many public footpaths are also signed by green and white signs made by ScotWays23.

The Wester Ross Coastal Trail was originally set up by Celtic Fringe - now Visit Wester Ross, to divert visitors from the main road onto side roads on the coast and spread the benefits of tourism. The leaflet “Slow Down in Wester Ross” used to going along with it, but its circulation has now completely stopped, although VWR’s newest booklet refers to the brown signs featuring the fish logo. It was felt that this trail was not needed anymore since the creation and growing success of the North Coast 500. As a consequence, Wester Ross Coastal Trail signs are to be put down and replaced by NC500 ones by March 202024.

We counted 63 car parks and 132 lay-bys in WRB, spread as on the map below. There is not to our knowledge any place in Wester Ross charging for parking.

22 VisitScotland. AdviceLink. A Guide to Signposting for Tourism Businesses. April 2016: https://www.visitscotland.org/binaries/content/assets/dot-org/pdf/supporting-your-business/brown- signpost-guide-april2016.pdf (accessed 29.11.2019) 23 Scottish Rights of Way & Access Society. What we do : https://www.scotways.com/about-us/44-what-we-do (accessed 07.12.2019) 24 Conversation with Visit Wester Ross. 29.11.2019.

Map of Car parks and Lay-bys

We identified at least 21 publicly accessible toilets. This number includes one in Arnisdale which is not on the map below, as it was made with official data which is not up to date anymore. There is in general no charge and most facilities encourage donations from users. However, toilets are owned and managed by a variety of actors and under different schemes, which cause some of them to be closed seasonally or permanently. The map gives an idea of what is available in the tourist season, not the winter months. Further repeated research would be necessary to inform seasonality and changes through time.

Map of Toilets

We found 13 camping and caravanning sites offering chemical waste disposal facilities, mostly present in the Northern half of the Biosphere. Although we could imagine in the future that external visitors might use these facilities (if adapted) by paying a small fee, it seems that almost all campsites currently offer this service to customers only. This also means that the opportunity to find these disposal points is reduced during winter season as some of the businesses stop operating. There is therefore a need to develop access to chemical waste disposal facilities, especially given the growing number of motorhomes on the roads. Tourist behaviour in that regard can also be problematic with the recurring issue of illegal disposal of chemical waste. It is considered special waste in Scotland and can be therefore punished by up to five years imprisonment, which is not made clear in information provision. Perhaps more awareness raising on the judiciary consequences could be of help to tackle the problem.

Map of Chemical Waste Disposal Facilities

There are currently 5 charging points for electric vehicles within the Biosphere area: two in Ullapool, one in Gairloch, one in Torridon and one in Shiel Bridge25. There is a greater number of them located outside WRB, on Skye, in the Inverness area and even on the North Coast.

25 ChargePlace Scotland Ltd. Live map: https://chargeplacescotland.org/cpmap/ (accessed 29.11.2019)

Map of Electric Charging Points

Accessibility of tourism products and services This section is a first attempted audit of accessibility of tourism products and service. It is far from comprehensive and has the aim to give an idea of tourism accessibility in Wester Ross. The sources for it were VisitScotland for accommodation, as well as Euan’s Guide and some operators’ websites for attractions and other categories. We did not have the capacity to conduct a more detailed study for Food & Drink, Activities and Shops.

There is an obvious need for more research, but also for publicisation from tourism operators themselves. It is assumed that tourism in Wester Ross is more accessible than advertised, as more and more access ramps and accessible toilets are being built for example. However, we also observed the opposite problem as some facilities are presented as accessible but can still be unadapted. The reviews show that doors or angles can be in the way of accessible toilets, or that level access can still be over rough ground and therefore not very practical for wheelchair users. Another issue is that accessibility indicators proposed by VisitScotland are not interpreted by business owners in the same way and do not necessarily represent the reality of accessibility on site. This reveals a need for more qualitative accessibility indicators and a wider use of them, as some websites like TripAdvisor do not even include accessibility information.

Accommodation

Looking at all-type accommodation businesses registered with VisitScotland, 77 of them located in Wester Ross advertise for at least one accessibility feature. Some have simply a disabled parking space or an access guide, while other have a full range of accessible facilities. Figures must be taken with care as again, all businesses do not seem to use indicators in the same way. For instance, some owners declare their accommodation suitable for persons with limited mobility, but do not declare any accessible toilet or shower which can question their advertising.

Number of Accommodation by Accessibility Feature

"PARTIALLY SUITABLE FOR PERSONS WITH LIMITED … 15 "SUITABLE FOR PERSONS WITH LIMITED MOBILITY" 14 ACCESS GUIDE 9 LEVEL ACCESS TO BAR 6 LEVEL ACCESS TO ENTRANCE 37 LEVEL ACCESS TO 1+ BEDROOM 35 WET ROOM 17 TOILET 20 PARKING SPACE 50

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

A few examples of very accessible accommodation are the Torridon Hotel, Ardmair Bay House near Ullapool or Eagle Rock in Applecross.

Not all accessibility features are represented in the graph above, but it seemed that other disability categories such as visual or hearing impairments were not particularly considered in the accommodation sector, which is mostly focussing on limited mobility.

Attractions

We assessed the accessibility of our 48 identified attractions as best we could but did not manage to get data for all entries. Again, a site labelled with level access might have relatively rough ground.

Number of Attractions by Accessibility Feature

BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE 1 BRAILLE 2 HEARING LOOP 3 LARGE PRINT 2 ASSISTANCE DOGS SUPPORT 2 POWERED SCOOTER / WHEELCHAIR 2 PARKING SPACE 12 LEVEL ACCESS 17 TOILET 12

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

The fact that the vast majority of our attractions (69%) are either classified in Nature & Environment or Beaches explains the reduced accessibility for a number of sites which include many steep hikes. However, some attractions such as Beinn Eighe, Knockan Crag or Slattadale still have facilities and paths for all abilities.

The most accessible attractions are Inverewe and Attadale Gardens, both offering disabled parking, level access, accessible toilets, powered scooter/wheelchair hire, but also large print interpretation, braille and hearing loops.

Transport

In the UK, disabled travellers can sometimes be eligible for concessionary fares or free travel on public transport. They are entitled to a free pass for travel on buses on coaches called the National Entitlement Card if they match one of the relevant criteria26. In case of an inability to travel alone, there is the possibility of getting a Companion Card with free travel for the accompanying person. For train travel, the Disabled Persons Railcard can be purchased and applies a 1/3 fare reduction for most journeys. For registered blind or partially sighted people in Scotland, there is also a voluntary scheme operated by local authorities and transport operators (Scottish National Blind Persons Scheme) offering free transport.

In Wester Ross, the Ullapool Ferry is very accessible for persons with limited mobility and blind or partially sighted people. Although Scotrail pledges to strive towards more accessibility and offers assistance27, our regional stations have very different levels of accessibility. Some of them are

26 Citizens Advice Scotland. Concessionary Fares and Free Travels: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/consumer/holiday-cancellations-and- compensation/concessionary-fares-and-free-travel-s/ 27 Scotrail. Accessible Travel: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/accessible-travel

completely inaccessible to wheelchairs, and most of others have rough ground despite a level access which makes public transport travels challenging for disabled users. Map of Railway Stations and Accessibility

Discussion This audit, combined with observations made in previous reports, led to the identification of the following challenges and opportunities. Challenges • Seasonality: limited periods of year or reduction of opening hours outside peak season which is arriving at full capacity already • Lack of local housing for staff – difficulty to retain skilled local workers in the area • Visitor information provision (winter, accessibility) • Lack of chemical toilet disposals • Accessibility of tourism facilities and services • Lack of collaboration • Lack of local statistics • Impacts of visitor behaviour and growing numbers creating pollution / littering or erosion (roads, paths), traffic. When the local environment demands high protection and care! • Can become unmanageable and facilities sometimes have to close at least temporarily (toilets in Kinlochewe and Beinn Eighe visitor centre) • Variable wi-fi and broadband connectivity Opportunities There is a potential for growth in general:

• Organically grow the tourist season by centralising and improving information, particularly regarding seasonality28 • Untapped cultural heritage for attractions and activities • Strong natural heritage sector with attractions, activities, events – in particular in marine tourism coinciding with a growing interest in ecotourism and environmental issues • Growing number of high-spending visitors, potential to attract new types of visitors • Potential of seasonality: generation of year-round tourism at times where there is a greater capacity • Potential to create new routes and itineraries • Potential to build upon existing local events portfolio, particularly extreme sporting events • Food & Drink where there is a growing infrastructure of distinctive local producers and a strong base of award-winning food and drink providers • Product clusters such as slow adventure packages • Generate revenues by charging facilities • Develop the 5 Top Attractions and 5 Attractionnettes Recommendations • Strive towards better online publicity as it is probably the principal information source for visitors. If we cannot find a business, then it must be also hard for visitors to find it. We recommend organised and up-to-date trust websites as information hubs for all the local businesses. Websites were generally less available in the South of WRB, which very likely led to less data for that part of the region than there actually is. This is particularly important, as online research is a growing pre-arrival information method and social media use has an increasing influence. Tourism sector stakeholders expressed concerns themselves that “some local operators have not fully embraced IT and social media” 29.

• Produce more studies to capture missing data or explore other important aspects such as seasonality which could not be entirely studied here.

• Achieve more collaboration between our scattered village communities to gather information and retain visitors in the area.

28 NC500 is about to create a winter itinerary in that regard: https://www.northcoast500.com/see- do/winter/top-tips-for-travelling-the-north-coast-500-in-winter/ (accessed 09.12.19) 29 Ritchie, Douglas. Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Draft Four. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. September 2015. 62 p.

References Background references Academic papers

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.

Vengesayi et al. Tourism Destination Attractiveness: Attractions, Facilities. Tourist Analysis. Vol. 14. 2009. pp. 621–636.

Reports & studies

Ritchie, Douglas. Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Draft Four. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. September 2015. 62 p.

Ritchie, Douglas. Visit Wester Ross Tourism Development Strategy. Update & Refresh. Prepared par Tourism and Leisure Solutions pour Visit Wester Ross. May 2018. 32 p.

Tourism Development International. Judith A Annett Countryside Consultancy. Rathlin Island Sustainable Development Strategy. June 2005.

University of Glasgow. Highlands and Islands Enterprise. North Coast 500 Economic Baseline Study. June 2017. 49 p.

Wester Ross Biosphere. Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve Application. UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. Biosphere reserve nomination form. September 2015.

Websites

ChargePlace Scotland Ltd. Live map: https://chargeplacescotland.org/cpmap/ (accessed 29.11.2019)

Ferguson, Brian. How Scottish History has inspired Game of Thrones. The Scotsman. 26.04 .2016 : https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/how-scottish-history-has-inspired-game-of-thrones-1- 4111633 (accessed 07.12.2019)

VisitScotland. AdviceLink. A Guide to Signposting for Tourism Businesses. April 2016: https://www.visitscotland.org/binaries/content/assets/dot-org/pdf/supporting-your- business/brown-signpost-guide-april2016.pdf (accessed 29.11.2019)

World Tourism Organisation. Definition of sustainable tourism: www.sdt.unwto.org/content/about- us-5 (accessed September 2018) Audit sources

Websites

General Visit Wester Ross: https://www.visitwester-ross.com/

Applecross Peninsula. North West Scotland: https://www.applecross.uk.com The Applecross Peninsula: http://www.applecross.info/index.htm Citizens Advice Scotland. Concessionary Fares and Free Travel: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/consumer/holiday-cancellations-and- compensation/concessionary-fares-and-free-travel-s/ Coigach: https://coigach.com/ Destination Lochcarron: https://www.lochcarron.org.uk/where-to-visit/ Euan’s Guide. Disabled Access Reviews: https://www.euansguide.com GALE: http://www.galeactionforum.co.uk/page.php?page_id=2 The Glenelg & Arnisdale tourist information guide: http://www.glenelgscotland.com/ Google Maps: http://www.maps.google.co.uk Lochalsh & the Isle of Skye tourist guide: http://www.lochalsh.co.uk NC500: https://www.northcoast500.com Scotrail. Accessible Travel: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/accessible-travel TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk Visit Plockton: https://visitplockton.com/ Visit Scotland: http://visitscotland.com Visit Torridon: http://www.visittorridon.co.uk/ Welcome Ullapool: http://www.ullapool.com/

Accommodation Airbnb: http://www.airbnb.co.uk Cottages & Castles: https://www.cottages-and-castles.co.uk Cottages.com: https://www.cottages.com Holidaycottages.co.uk: https://www.holidaycottages.co.uk lhhscotland.com: https://www.lhhscotland.com/destinations/highlands Mycottageholiday.co.uk: https://www.mycottageholiday.co.uk Unique Cottages: https://www.unique-cottages.co.uk Wilderness Cottages: https://www.wildernesscottages.co.uk

Events Facebook Beinn Eighe NNR Facebook HC Ranger NTS Inverewe Gardens

Brochures and leaflets etc Gairloch Times & District Yellow Pages Highlands & Islands Visit Wester Ross. The 6 LOCHS tour of Wester Ross. Varied leaflets