Tourism: a radical view

Drastic action is needed if Scotland's biggest industry is to grow, argues Bill Anderson Tourism is now Scotland's biggest industry. It contributes #400 million into our economy, much of it going to rural and remote areas. That's the good news. The bad news is that Scotland's share of a burgeoning international tourism market is diminishing. 1998 was a bad season, 1999 was marginally worse - and this year may be no better. Radical solutions are required.

The Sunday Herald has given considerable coverage to this debate, and last week Ivor Broussine of the Scottish Tourism Forum contributed to this with his 10-point plan for Scottish tourism. There is little that my colleagues and I would disagree with in his suggestions - but we will go even further.

An effective Scottish Tourist Board is essential, but its sole function should be the promotion of Scotland as one of Europe's premier destinations. It should abandon its expensive public relations operation, shift some funding from urban areas to rural tourism, and capitalise on the support for accommodation classification, consulting the tourist trade with a view to extending it into other areas. There is also widespread trade support for STB's policy of extending the tourist season, and this should be developed.

But the STB should abandon any pretence of representing the trade. That is the job of people such as the Scottish Tourism Forum and my own group, the Forum of Private Business in Scotland - not the STB or the area tourist boards. And that brings us to our most radical suggestion: that the present area tourist board structure be completely abandoned and replaced with smaller local tourist boards run in cooperation with local tourist-related businesses.

There is considerable disenchantment with the present system. Having one area tourist board to represent Stirling, Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, Argyll, the Southern Hebrides and, for all I know, Rockall, is nonsense. Businesses in Argyll feel quite remote from Stirling - so let's bring local tourist boards back to the people they should serve.

The funding of these local tourist boards should be guaranteed and channelled through Local Enterprise Companies. LECs have a very important role in tourism, and have a far better profile with tourist businesses than area tourist boards. They should assist in the setting up and funding of local tourist boards, providing money for tourist business development and tourism training as well as promoting the local area as a holiday - and business - destination.

The trouble is that, if businesses in Argyll feel remote from Stirling, they feel even more isolated from the STB in Edinburgh and from the Scottish parliament and Scottish Executive. This is an Executive that espouses consultation, and enterprise minister Henry McLeish has made moves to involve small businesses. So what about extending this to tourism?

Then let's appoint a junior minister, within the department of enterprise, with sole responsibility for the tourist industry. The enterprise and lifelong learning committee should also initiate a full investigation into Scottish tourism and the infra-structure supporting it.

Then, of course, there are a host of legislative measures that could really help Scottish tourism. Here are a few:

la level playing field on European taxation; lparity of air fares to Scotland from overseas destinations; la more competitive exchange rate for sterling; lpetrol price parity in all parts of Scotland with the rest of the UK; limprovement in the transport infrastructure within and to Scotland; limproved connecting flights; la business rates level playing field with the rest of the UK; land tax incentives for historic buildings to open for at least nine months of the year.

That would do us very nicely, Mr McLeish.

Bill Anderson is the Campaigns Manager for the Forum of Private Business in Scotland. He and his wife ran a tourist business in Forres

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