FEATURE
© Fraser Band
Building On Tourism’s £618m Economic Boost A new four-year strategy seeks to further grow the pipeline for landmark events
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teeped in history, alive with culture and boasting some of Scotland’s most scenic landscapes, Perthshire has long since been at the forefront of Scottish tourism. As one of the area’s most prominent industries, tourism accounts for 12% of total employment in the area to cover around 8,000 jobs ranging from hotel receptionists to white-water adventure guides, and historical tour operators to award-winning chefs. It is estimated that in 2018 the area received approximately 2.35 million visits which generated an economic impact of over £618 million – a significant 26% increase on the £489 million recorded at the start of the decade, in 2010. Why then, when the UK has faced some of the most challenging economic times in recent history, has Perthshire’s tourism sector remained not just steady but positively buoyant? In 2013 the Council adopted an Events & Festivals strategy that cited ambitious plans to propel the city and its wider area forward into 2020. Set against a backdrop of restored city status, the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and the emergence of the national themed years for Scotland, the aspiration was to grow the economic contribution large-scale events made to the area.
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VisitScotland Regional Leadership Director, Caroline Warburton commented, “For Scotland, events are acknowledged drivers of visits to a destination and have the added value of creating vibrancy and driving economic benefits for communities, as well as portraying a positive image for the purposes of attracting investment and talent.
tourism portfolio by securing new, largescale events, as well as working internally to develop their own opportunities and ideas. Playing to the strength of the landscape in Perth, the diversity of the area lends itself particularly well to event tourism with well-maintained, sprawling estates, and land owners willing and able to seize the opportunities.
Perth and the wider region boasts a great number of long-standing quality events.
“Perth and the wider area boasts a great number of longstanding, high quality events including the Enchanted Forest, Perth Festival of the Arts and Perth Racecourse’s summer jump season.
“In addition to these, large annual fixtures such as Etape Caledonia and Rewind Festival had just laid down roots in the area, but in the years since they have kept the same groups of loyal fans returning for more of the same. The Council’s strategy at the time aimed to harness these success stories and build on them to ensure longer term sustainability.” The central theme of the strategy was to be “acquisition and growth” – building the
Scone Palace, one of Scotland’s leading 5-star visitor attractions, is an excellent example of how traditional estates can be shaped to support the infrastructure required to become a large-scale event venue. Festivals such as Rewind and BBC Music, Radio 2 and Radio 3’s The Biggest Weekend have national interest, with visitors travelling from across the country, and many opting to stay and spend in the area. With scale often comes profile, and oneoff boons such as Gleneagles playing host to the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup, mean that Perthshire, and therefore Scotland more widely, enjoys a worldwide audience
