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Meeting of the Parliament 21 June 2012

21 Jun 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Visitor Economy

McCulloch, Margaret Lab Central Scotland Watch on SPTV

From the Falkirk wheel to Lanarkshire’s great country parks, there is a wide range of premier visitor attractions in my Central Scotland region, which I am only too happy to highlight. With the summer recess approaching, I hope that other members will recognise those attractions too.

However, today’s debate is about the visitor economy and the steps that we can take to grow tourism now and in the years ahead, with Labour restating the target of growing tourism in Scotland by 50 per cent by 2016.

Scotland is a great place to visit and to do business; the rise in revenue from overnight visits at a time of difficulty in the world economy is testament to that fact. Members all round the chamber share a desire to build on the successes, to develop the visitors’ welcome to Scotland and to secure our status as a world-class destination.

The World Economic Forum maintains a travel and tourism competitiveness index that examines different parts of the economy in three broad subject areas: the regulatory framework; infrastructure and the business environment; and resources including natural, cultural and human resources. I will address those three broad areas today, starting with regulation.

When we talk about regulation, we often talk about the pressures on industry, and we forget that more elemental types of regulation can be taken for granted. For example, visitors to Scotland can expect high standards of cleanliness and hygiene, with safeguards in place to protect public health and the environment. They can be confident that all staff who handle food will have a minimum Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland food-handler certificate and that all licensed premises employ a trained personal-license holder. If people travel from elsewhere in the European Union, they can apply for a European health insurance card, and people can also expect the authorities to take measures to prevent low-level crime in our public places.

The simple truth is that the high standards that we can provide in Scotland, backed by a regime of regulation and inspection, are not replicated in every part of the world, and so we have to maintain the good standards that we have set.

The second part of the part of the WEF index relates to infrastructure and the business environment. Tourism infrastructure in Scotland is well developed; we have a wealth of visitor attractions that are backed up with brown signage, local tourism partnerships and information offices.

We also have a dedicated Government agency that is committed to tourism, thereby reinforcing the broader growth agenda that is set out in the Scottish Government’s economic strategy. There is widespread access to ATMs and our broadband network is being improved and expanded—although many of us would like much more progress to be made throughout more of the country.

However, I am concerned that our transport infrastructure is falling behind, and that our road and rail networks do not match those of our near neighbours and competitors. I welcome the investment in Central Scotland’s motorways, which will improve the M8, M73 and M74, but I ask the Scottish Government to be much clearer about the timetable for completion of those works.

I agree with the Scottish Government that there should be a capital injection into the economy to support the recovery. However, if it was not for the decisions that were made in the previous session of Parliament about capital spending, we would today be investing in airport rail links in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

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Meeting of the Parliament 21 June 2012

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