Chamber
Plenary, 28 Sep 2000
28 Sep 2000 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Tourism
This has been an interesting, if short, debate. I liked Fergus Ewing's speech. He started in a fit of pique because the cloak of misery in which he usually garbs himself has been stolen, not by my colleague Mr Davidson, but by the minister. The minister's speech today showed complacency, lack of vision and the acceptance of failure. However, if someone has their head buried in the sand, the only place that they can talk from is the other end of their anatomy.
Colleagues today have given the figures. Scottish tourism is down, whereas UK and worldwide tourism are up. The situation is made worse by the fact that Glasgow and Edinburgh have prospered, while figures for the Highlands, Fife and the Borders are well down.
What all the problems have in common is detachment—ministers detached from the industry, the STB detached from the tourist trade, the ATB semi-detached from the STB, often shunned by the trade and lacking funds, and the STB failing to engage with, or to answer the needs of, the tourist industry. That is the result of a lack of leadership from the Executive. As one hotelier asked me yesterday; is not it an indictment of the industry that at no time since the creation of the STB has anyone from the industry headed the organisation?
As Duncan Hamilton pointed out, Ossian is an extreme, expensive failure. It was launched with a bang, on 29 March 1999, by Lord Macdonald, who stated:
"The Ossian system is a world first, developed in Scotland".
Ossian was to be a working system of online booking—collect £1 million. On 22 July 1998, we heard of a review covering marketing, visitor servicing and development of the Scottish Tourist Board—collect £1 million. In December 1998, Gus Macdonald collected another £1 million. On 19 March 1999, Henry McLeish said, "Tourist spend is down, but let's blame the weather; by the way, don't forget the £1 million that I gave Ossian in January." In March 2000, Henry McLeish pledged £4 million—I presume that it was the same £4 million that had already been announced, but with the Executive one never knows—and said that Ossian now had 14,000 listings for accommodation. On 6 April, Henry McLeish earmarked another £3.9 million for further development of Ossian—or was that the same £4 million that had been declared by Lord Macdonald and by Henry McLeish in March 2000?
Ossian was to be the world's first online booking system, as demonstrated by Gus Macdonald in March 1998. On 6 April 2000, it had not taken one booking. By the time the new strategy for Scottish tourism was launched, the listings figure had dropped to 10,000; where have the other 4,000 places disappeared to? I suggest that they have been registered with one of the other sites that are up and running—not in development, not costing £4 million, but taking bookings. As Duncan Hamilton mentioned, Richard Irwin offered to develop the site for the Scottish Tourist Board at a cost of £200,000, rather than £4 million. I know about the site; I know that it is not just a booking agency, but it is an extremely expensive database.
I venture to suggest that Ossian has been an expensive blunder. As Duncan Hamilton said, Ossian—like the dome—is an embarrassment for ministers. Money will be poured into it. Why not call a halt now and give the project back to the private sector. Let the private sector do what it is good at, and the public sector stick to doing what it is not so good at.
The minister did not mention the fuel crisis in Europe—not so much a matter of "let them eat cake" as "let them sniff gas." We hoped to hear today how the £12 million—yet more money that is being poured into the STB—would be distributed, but what we heard was waffle.
As for George Lyon and the Liberals, sometimes I despair; they have no strategy at all for tourism, apart from dragging us into the euro at a totally unrealistic rate. At least Jamie Stone, who unfortunately is not in the chamber, pointed out that the high point of his career allowed him to say that Ossian was value for money. If lavatory cleaning is a measure of how to set up a database, I had better start on a new career.
Kenny MacAskill made some good points; the air links are extremely important. As members will know, my wife is Spanish. When I want to travel to Spain, I have to go via Stansted, Luton or Heathrow. Why do we not have direct flights from Barcelona to Scotland?
Colleagues today have given the figures. Scottish tourism is down, whereas UK and worldwide tourism are up. The situation is made worse by the fact that Glasgow and Edinburgh have prospered, while figures for the Highlands, Fife and the Borders are well down.
What all the problems have in common is detachment—ministers detached from the industry, the STB detached from the tourist trade, the ATB semi-detached from the STB, often shunned by the trade and lacking funds, and the STB failing to engage with, or to answer the needs of, the tourist industry. That is the result of a lack of leadership from the Executive. As one hotelier asked me yesterday; is not it an indictment of the industry that at no time since the creation of the STB has anyone from the industry headed the organisation?
As Duncan Hamilton pointed out, Ossian is an extreme, expensive failure. It was launched with a bang, on 29 March 1999, by Lord Macdonald, who stated:
"The Ossian system is a world first, developed in Scotland".
Ossian was to be a working system of online booking—collect £1 million. On 22 July 1998, we heard of a review covering marketing, visitor servicing and development of the Scottish Tourist Board—collect £1 million. In December 1998, Gus Macdonald collected another £1 million. On 19 March 1999, Henry McLeish said, "Tourist spend is down, but let's blame the weather; by the way, don't forget the £1 million that I gave Ossian in January." In March 2000, Henry McLeish pledged £4 million—I presume that it was the same £4 million that had already been announced, but with the Executive one never knows—and said that Ossian now had 14,000 listings for accommodation. On 6 April, Henry McLeish earmarked another £3.9 million for further development of Ossian—or was that the same £4 million that had been declared by Lord Macdonald and by Henry McLeish in March 2000?
Ossian was to be the world's first online booking system, as demonstrated by Gus Macdonald in March 1998. On 6 April 2000, it had not taken one booking. By the time the new strategy for Scottish tourism was launched, the listings figure had dropped to 10,000; where have the other 4,000 places disappeared to? I suggest that they have been registered with one of the other sites that are up and running—not in development, not costing £4 million, but taking bookings. As Duncan Hamilton mentioned, Richard Irwin offered to develop the site for the Scottish Tourist Board at a cost of £200,000, rather than £4 million. I know about the site; I know that it is not just a booking agency, but it is an extremely expensive database.
I venture to suggest that Ossian has been an expensive blunder. As Duncan Hamilton said, Ossian—like the dome—is an embarrassment for ministers. Money will be poured into it. Why not call a halt now and give the project back to the private sector. Let the private sector do what it is good at, and the public sector stick to doing what it is not so good at.
The minister did not mention the fuel crisis in Europe—not so much a matter of "let them eat cake" as "let them sniff gas." We hoped to hear today how the £12 million—yet more money that is being poured into the STB—would be distributed, but what we heard was waffle.
As for George Lyon and the Liberals, sometimes I despair; they have no strategy at all for tourism, apart from dragging us into the euro at a totally unrealistic rate. At least Jamie Stone, who unfortunately is not in the chamber, pointed out that the high point of his career allowed him to say that Ossian was value for money. If lavatory cleaning is a measure of how to set up a database, I had better start on a new career.
Kenny MacAskill made some good points; the air links are extremely important. As members will know, my wife is Spanish. When I want to travel to Spain, I have to go via Stansted, Luton or Heathrow. Why do we not have direct flights from Barcelona to Scotland?
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel):
NPA
Our first item of business is the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party debate on motion S1M-1216, in the name of David Davidson, on Scottish tourism, and...
Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con):
Con
Here are the facts. First, Scottish tourism has had three poor summers with flattening growth trends against a world tourism trend of continuous growth. Seco...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP):
SNP
David Davidson complains about inadequate and insufficient funding for ATBs. By what amount would the Tories increase such funding, if they were in charge?
Mr Davidson:
Con
We would certainly want that funding to return to the level at which it was before. However, the trouble is that the money comes from local authorities that ...
Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab):
Lab
How many?
Mr Davidson:
Con
If Duncan McNeil wants to come to the Conservative office, I will let him see them.The story in each is the same: there is no leadership from the Government ...
The Deputy Minister for Highlands and Islands and Gaelic (Mr Alasdair Morrison):
Lab
I am delighted to have the opportunity to outline what the Executive is doing on tourism. In February, we published our strategy for developing Scotland's to...
Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I have listened with interest to the minister's comments. Does he accept that, while certain initiatives in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the central belt are lauda...
Mr Morrison:
Lab
Miss Goldie began her intervention well, but sadly ended on a quite ludicrous note. It is appropriate to point out what is being done by Edinburgh and Glasgo...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Will the minister give way?
Mr Morrison:
Lab
I will respond to Miss Goldie first.Thanks to an excellent initiative, 23 petrol stations throughout the Highlands and Islands now offer liquefied petroleum ...
Mr Davidson:
Con
Will the minister give way?
Mr Morrison:
Lab
I must make progress. I have less time than Mr Davidson had.Visitscotland and the Ossian system, contrary to what some Opposition members say, are a success....
Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP):
SNP
The Conservative motion states:"That the Parliament recognises the tremendous difficulties faced by Scottish tourism and calls upon the Scottish Executive to...
Mr Davidson:
Con
Will Mr Ewing give way?
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Perhaps David Davidson will expand on the Conservatives' policy in his intervention.
Mr Davidson:
Con
If Mr Ewing had paid attention during the past few weeks, he would know what we would do about fuel taxation. Many of the things that we did in the past have...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
It might come as a surprise to David Davidson, but I was going to mention the fuel tax. I am delighted to say that Kenny MacAskill and I reiterated the SNP p...
Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con):
Con
Will the member give way?
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Not just yet, Phil. Haud yer wheesht for a wee minute.Labour's policy is that the fuel tax is too low—it is committed to increasing fuel tax by at least the ...
Phil Gallie:
Con
I understand Mr Ewing's frustration about the silence of the Labour and Liberal Democrat members in the chamber. He mentioned the cut in fuel tax that the SN...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Phil Gallie's appearance on "Newsnight" the other night was better than that question. If someone will supply me with an interpreter, I will be happy to deal...
Allan Wilson (Cunninghame North) (Lab):
Lab
I thought that we were talking about tourism, but we seem to be talking about fuel tax. Mr Gallie's question was fair. The nationalists incorporated the fuel...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Yesterday, Mr Mandelson said that spin was bad—today we hear complete fiction from Allan Wilson. All SNP MPs have always voted against the fuel tax escalator...
George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD):
LD
I can hardly believe that. I am shell-shocked—a positive contribution to a debate from Fergus Ewing. Well done.I welcome the chance to discuss the tourism in...
Mr Davidson:
Con
I take it that Mr Lyon is heading towards an explanation of why we should join the euro. If he is, and if he wants to join, what should the exchange rate be?
George Lyon:
LD
If Mr Davidson considers our competitors in Ireland—who joined the euro at IR£1 to DM2.40 or DM2.50—he will see that Ireland now enjoys a 25 per cent competi...
Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
Will the member give way?
George Lyon:
LD
I would like to make some progress, if the member does not mind.Compared to other countries, Scotland is a much dearer destination for our European friends. ...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
I was shaking my head.