Meeting of the Parliament 02 December 2014
As I tried to say to the Presiding Officer at the end of a speech in the chamber last week, it was Chekhov who said:
“If you cry ‘Forward!’, you must without fail make plain in what direction to go.”
That, of course, applies to almost everything, but especially to that key sector of the Scottish economy—tourism. We need to consider in what direction we wish to travel and in what direction we wish to take our friends and visitors.
Before I come on to that, let us look back briefly. My love of and commitment to the game of golf would allow me to wax lyrical for days—I will not—about not just the amphitheatre that was Gleneagles, the artistry, the greenery of the surrounding hills and the course, but much more than that: there was the colour and life that Americans and Europeans alike brought to that golfing coliseum. That is a golfing legacy that I believe will live for a long time—that is, until the Ryder cup returns to the home of golf, which I hope will be in the short term rather than the longer term. Of course, in the meantime, the open championships will compensate for that.
The Optimal Economics and Taylor Nelson Sofres visitor impact study that was produced at the end of last month underlined the impact of the legacy that the Commonwealth games brought to Scotland. It is right to pay tribute, as I do, to VisitScotland, the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Tourism Alliance and all the others that were involved in managing and contributing to that massive success.
There is a great marketing adage that a brand that has a story to tell has meaning, and a brand that has meaning has impact and resonance. We all know about the impact and resonance that the games had, so we must have told a very good story. About 690,000 unique visitors attended events related to Glasgow 2014 and festival 2014. That is almost 0.7 million people, which is equivalent to 15 per cent of Scotland’s population. Of the visitors, 93 per cent rated Scotland as a good place to visit. On average, each visitor spent £98 per day, which was a total spend of £282 million that in three weeks alone was equivalent to 10 per cent of tourism spend in Scotland one year previously.
The homecoming and the Bannockburn live event represented more than financial spend: there was emotional spend and investment. Those of us who attended Bannockburn were overwhelmed by the warmth and the easy and cosy relationship not just with the locals but with the kinsmen who came from across the globe.
However, we cannot rest on our laurels. Global tourism competition is fierce and the roles of the professionals in VisitScotland and the Scottish Tourism Alliance are key, as is the role of the vast range of related tourism organisations, such as ABBA—the Ayrshire Bed and Breakfast Association—in Ayr.
In accepting all those points, we accept the comment that Murdo Fraser made about APD, but it is not only about APD. Our global communications and global marketing must continually be better than those of our competition and our customer service and quality must be better than those of our competition. I pay tribute to some of our younger European immigrant colleagues, who have contributed to that success.
Our food and drink are better than those of the competition and their quality is recognised for its richness, but we have to unlock even more of that richness through innovation and creativity. I draw attention to the work that is done at Queen Margaret University in particular. Our great hotels and bars must accept that we are in this endeavour for the longer-term gains, which provide greater aggregate returns than the short-term gains.
The study that VisitScotland reported yesterday was wide ranging and appropriate in that it defined and highlighted the many needs of visitors. John Mason referred to tourists from Germany, France and Holland who like the atmosphere and the sun. The Italians like the cool climate and no sun. So it goes on.
From food to climate, from drink to history, heritage and literature and even—yes—from sun to rain, Scotland has a lot to offer, especially the efforts of its people. As Denise Hill, who is the head of international marketing at VisitScotland, said of tourism success:
“Overall, it is the rich traditions, the landscapes and the warm welcome of the Scottish people which remain the key.”
We have a great brand. We have a great story to tell. We have to keep telling it. When it is aligned with strong global cultural and sporting events, we are in the right place. As Chekhov said, let us go forward and make it plain in what direction we want our tourism industry to go. It can only be onwards and upwards.
16:07