The Scottish tourism industry is set to benefit from nearly £6.5million of public sector support.
Malcolm Roughead, the chief executive of VisitScotland, said that funding, available through VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) would support tourism businesses throughout the country to become more competitive through developing higher quality visitor experience.
A programme to boost digital tourism will be allocated £1.2million. The Digital Tourism Scotland programme aims to help businesses become more productive and stay competitive using digital technology. Spread out over three years, the support includes online resources, workshops, business briefings, intensive business support.
As well, a £1.44million Tourism Destination Development Fund was launched this week to support destinations across Scottish Enterprise areas, including the north-east, to develop projects that enhance the quality of the visitor experience and visitor spend.This funding comes on top of an existing £3million funding pot for Scotland’s biggest cities, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The VisitScotland Growth Fund, an annual £400,000 fund supporting collaborative tourism marketing projects, will match-fundcampaigns that align to VisitScotland’s £4.5million “Spirit of Scotland” campaign.
Earlier this week, HIE also announced a £310,000 investment in tourism groups to co-ordinate a range of digital tourism support programmes for local businesses.
Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s Tourism Minister, said: “We want Scotland to have a world-class digital infrastructure, meaning visitors can access digital services at any time, on any device, and almost anywhere helping tourism businesses compete, grow and find new customers in the global markets. This £6.5 million of new public sector funding is the kind of practical support that will help us meet that aim.”
Mr Roughead said: “Digital technology is playing an increasingly important role in Scottish tourism. Our 2015 Visitor Survey recently revealed that 65% of visitors use their smartphones and 36% use tablets to enhance their holiday experience while in Scotland.
“Our inspirational new website at visitscotland.com and our hugely popular #ScotSpirit social media drive play key roles in Spirit of Scotland – our first ever global marketing campaign. The public sector money available to businesses to enhance their digital offering will play a vital role in driving forward Scottish tourism.”
