2017 will be boom year for tourism in Inverness after soaring up European rankings

By Iain Ramage

December 12 2016, 4:02 am

Part of the view which will b available from the top of Inverness Castle

Inverness is bracing itself for a boom in 2017 after soaring in popularity in the European destination rankings.

Its number eight ranking, reported by an online travel firm, is based on growth in forward bookings compared with last year.

And city leaders are excited by the prospect after a 27% increase in Inverness tourist numbers in 2015.

eDreams Odigeo has recorded an 80% increase in demand for Inverness in 2016.

Its “European Traveller Insights” report revealed that Inverness is set for a larger tourism boost than many locations including Fez, Morocco (75%) and Hanoi, Vietnam (67%).

It believes the demand could be fuelled by the fall in the value of sterling after the EU referendum – and British Airways reinstating its daily Heathrow-Inverness flights in May for the first time in almost 20 years.

Turin in northern Italy topped the list followed by Astana in Kazakhstan, Rotterdam in Holland and Havana, Cuba.

Dana Dunne, chief executive of eDreams Odigeo, said: “Increased accessibility has offered a boost to many destinations. It’s particularly interesting to see Inverness make the top 10 for 2017, with European travellers perhaps drawn to explore new UK destinations following the fall of the pound.”

Tony Story, managing director of the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness, said: “Any news of tourism growth in the Highlands is welcome. What we must do is manage the growth outwith the peak periods.

“We appear to be seeing the leisure tourist season stretch more and more into the winter time which is exactly what we need.

“Inverness has pretty much lost its seasonality in terms of its traffic and volume but it’s still extremely rate-sensitive outwith the July-August period.”

Echoing the optimism, city provost Helen Carmichael said: “Clearly, I’m delighted. I do think direct flights, both the BA flight and the KLM Amsterdam link, have made a huge difference already.

“It’s great that our reputation is growing. And, in addition to our wonderful scenery, we have a feast of big events to enjoy – and we’ll soon have the Inverness Castle viewing tower open to visitors as a new attraction.”