Meeting of the Parliament 02 December 2014
I welcome the debate on such an important aspect of the Scottish economy and am delighted to take part in it.
As members have noted, 2014 has indeed been the year in which Scotland welcomed the world. Our largest city hosted the most successful Commonwealth games ever and Gleneagles welcomed the Ryder cup. In addition, we have had a fantastic programme of year of homecoming events that have highlighted the country’s great cultural offerings in places as far apart as Newton Stewart and Stromness.
The minister mentioned the plaudits that have been given to our country by the Lonely Planet guide. Rough Guides, which is, of course, Lonely Planet’s rival, matched those plaudits by comparing Glasgow to the carnival capital of the world, Rio de Janeiro.
Of course 2014 continues to be a fantastic year for Scottish tourism. It is particularly important to pay tribute, as other members have, to the swathes of volunteers as well as the people of Glasgow who made the Commonwealth games such a tremendous success and really did Scotland proud. An equally impressive Ryder cup leaves us with absolutely no doubt that Scotland raised the bar in delivering major sporting events. We now have the capacity to deliver and the credibility that comes with success. That means that we can continue to be ambitious and bid for such events in future.
We spoke about the Smith commission earlier, and it is appropriate to welcome some of the powers that are linked to tourism that the Smith commission has proposed.
The allocation of VAT has not been mentioned. I would have liked to have seen the full allocation of VAT; nevertheless, I welcome its partial allocation. In relation to tourism in particular, through VAT revenues, we would reap the benefit of the investment that we make to attract people to this country.
The Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee had a very pleasant session when the Parliament sat in August and we took evidence on the Edinburgh festivals. That included going out to see some of the performances on offer. In the evidence session, Festivals Edinburgh talked about increasing revenue for the festivals by putting additional taxes on hotel rooms, which is a matter that has been looked at in the past. I made the point that a far better solution would be for the festivals to benefit directly from the money raised through taxes that come in in response to them. It is worth while pointing out that, in terms of the revenue generated, the Edinburgh festival is like having a Commonwealth games every year.
I also welcome the Smith commission’s recommendations to devolve responsibility for air passenger duty to the Scottish Parliament. That has been a long time coming—and still we wait; it cannot come quickly enough. By reducing APD, we will be able to incentivise more direct travel both to and from Scotland, where, at the moment, passengers face some of the highest taxation levels in Europe.
That said, I would encourage the development of transport links in Scotland, as well as those that bring an increased number of people to Scotland. Dumfries and Galloway in my South Scotland region depends greatly on tourism for its income. About 5,300 people are employed in the sector across Dumfries and Galloway, and tourism contributes an estimated £68 million gross value added to the local authority area. However, it is often said that the area remains a hidden gem, because of the difficulties with the transport links that connect Dumfries and Galloway to central Scotland. We can only look enviously to the east at the dualling of the A9 and at the Borders rail link and hope that our turn will eventually come.
When he gave evidence to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee in October, Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland’s chief executive officer, agreed with me that Dumfries and Galloway suffers due to its geographical location. In particular, the lack of electrified train lines and poor road links mean that the region does not attract the number of visitors that it deserves. Notwithstanding that, the figures show that, in 2013, Gretna Green’s famous blacksmith shop hosted a staggering 761,000 visitors and Galloway forest park attracted more than 423,000 visitors.
The area is a leader in cultural tourism, which I have always tried to encourage. Each year in May, across Dumfries and Galloway, the spring fling, Scotland’s premier arts and craft tourism festival, invites people into artists’ studios—including those of big-name artists and recent graduates. It is widely acknowledged as one of the leading events of its kind.
As well as cultural tourism, I was pleased to be told at a recent visit to Scottish Enterprise that the region is looking to develop agri-tourism, which has been very successful in other parts of Europe. Given our food and drink successes, that could be another great success in the south-west and other areas of Scotland.
I again welcome the debate. I hope that tourism in future years is as successful as it has been in the one that we are celebrating today.
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