Meeting of the Parliament 16 June 2015
This afternoon’s debates seem to indicate that the business managers have something of a sense of humour, in that we have a themed afternoon—first visiting the Harbours (Scotland) Bill before moving on to marine tourism. That theme has encouraged our minister, Fergus Ewing, and Lewis Macdonald to ruminate on the adventures of holidays that lie ahead of them, even though we have a heavy fortnight ahead of us with stage 3 debates and so on.
Marine tourism is indeed one of the sleeping giants of the Scottish economy. Stuart McMillan and his cross-party group must be delighted that they have generated sufficient action to get support for marine tourism and its aims for the future. VisitScotland reports that sailing and boating alone already generate more than £100 million of visitor expenditure and directly support 2,730 jobs. That is good news for Scotland and good news for the future.
In 2014, the British Marine Federation estimated that the economic value of marine tourism in Scotland was around £360 million. More generally, Deloitte recorded that tourism, which is so crucial to Scotland’s cultural and economic wellbeing and sustains a great diversity of business throughout the country, contributed some £11 billion to the Scottish economy in direct and indirect spending and supported somewhere in excess of 200,000 jobs.
In my region of South Scotland, many ports and areas rely heavily on marine tourism: Stranraer, Ballantrae, Girvan, Ayr, Port Logan, Eyemouth and Dunbar all look forward to the development of marine tourism in the future. I have already raised with the minister the future of Stranraer as a port and the importance of developing tourism there to give the community a hope of a local economy.
The most recent VisitScotland visitor experience survey confirmed that scenery and natural environment are key concerns for Scottish tourism, with 90 per cent of visitors citing them as either very important or important factors when choosing Scotland as a holiday destination.
As convener of the cross-party group on China, I can report to the chamber the importance that our Chinese tourists attach to our environment and to that experience. In the years ahead, all being well, we will see many thousands of Chinese tourists coming here. They hope to see Scotland in its natural state. They want to see the white beaches, the harbours and the sailing experience, which they are not attuned to seeing in the many towns and cities from which they travel. Indeed, the Chinese consul general came with me to Dumfries and Galloway some 18 months ago and he spent days thereafter telling me how impressed he was with the environment that he visited and how much the people of China would value coming to Scotland for that experience.
Adding in the wildlife watching in coastal and marine areas, which accounts for over £160 million in tourist expenditure, this whole field of endeavour is as important as any other economic development that we are involved in across our environment.
However, marine tourism is not merely about money; it is also about the quality of life that it brings not only to the tourists who visit us but to the communities that benefit from the visitations and enjoy the cruise tourism that Scotland has increasingly experienced. The fact that 45,000 cruise passengers were reported back in 2000 and more than 400,000 were reported in 2015 shows the growth potential that lies there. The visitations from the cruise ships create a culture and a community that has resilience and confidence and which can plan for the future. All of that must be good for Scotland and it must be good for the people who live in our country. It must encourage many more to come here and join us.
I am happy to support the motion. I am delighted that the minister has indicated support for the Labour amendment. All strength to the Government’s arm in developing this area of activity.
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