Associate Feature: Responsible tourism

Life at VisitScotland has been quite a journey for Malcolm Roughead OBE, its veteran chief executive. When he retires next month, he will have been at the national tourism organisation for more than 20 years after initially joining as director of marketing in 2001.

Every day, he says, has provided different opportunities and challenges. “It’s a real privilege to meet some fantastic people, to travel across the country and generally to have had a sense of fulfilment about doing something positive for Scotland.”

Since Roughead took up his current post in 2010 the tourism sector has witnessed major advances. “It’s important to have an organisation that continues to adapt to the needs of the sector and best supports businesses in the industry,” he says. 

There have of course been troughs as well as peaks – he references the foot and mouth outbreak, the volcanic eruption at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and – most disruptive of all – the Covid pandemic. But these have been far outweighed by the positives, he says, including big-hitting events that put Scotland on the global stage. 

Among these were Homecoming Scotland and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the hosting of the 2014 Ryder Cup, the 2019 Solheim Cup, COP26 and the continuing success of the Edinburgh Festivals. He’s particularly proud of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships – delivered by a subsidiary of VisitScotland – which had a global TV audience of 537 million in 130 countries, making it one of the top 10 watched sporting events in the world.

For someone in charge of an organisation on which so much of Scotland’s international reputation is built, Roughead is engagingly positive. 

He has good reason for cautious optimism as he prepares to hand the organisation over to his successor, Vicki Miller, who is currently the director of marketing and digital at VisitScotland. The industry represented a £10bn contribution last year to the country’s economy and ONS figures show international tourism in Scotland is recovering at a stronger rate than other UK nations and regions. 

A constant theme is that “you just have to keep investing to make sure the experience people get when they come to Scotland is what they would expect’. That includes adapting to channels of communication that have changed dramatically. 

“Look at the spectacular rise of social media,” he says. “If you’re on Facebook now, you’re almost old school with YouTube, Instagram and TikTok among the various other channels you must keep on top of – and the opportunities are phenomenal. 

“While that brings with it a degree of complexity it also allows you to reach a global audience that previously you just couldn’t access – and it will be really interesting to see where AI [artificial intelligence] takes us in the next few years.”

Importantly, he believes that the digital element plays an important role in democratising communications. “Whether you own a bed and breakfast in a remote rural or island community or are a major attraction in the heart of one of our cities you now have the potential to reach the audiences you want to target much more easily than was previously possible.” 

A crucial development that Roughead constantly stresses is VisitScotland’s ambition for Scotland to be one of the most economically, environmentally and socially sustainable destinations in the world. 

“That’s very much a focal point at the moment and we address that collectively and because it’s a global issue, we’re all keen to share ideas and solutions,” he says.

He concurs that the climate emergency will remain one of the big challenges of the future not only for tourism but for all businesses. “We’re not immune to that and responsible tourism practices and sustainability will grow to be ever-more important because our natural assets are fragile – and we need to protect them.

“Responsible tourism is the basis of our national strategy and allows communities to flourish by creating jobs and improving wellbeing, making them more resilient to change,” he says, pointing to Destination Net Zero activity delivered by VisitScotland, which works with a range of other organisations including Highlands & Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise.

Available net zero resources include advice and tools for businesses and projects such as a collaboration with The Travel Corporation, where VisitScotland is working to reduce carbon emissions in the global tourism supply chain.

It is also, he says, part of VisitScotland’s aim of achieving the spend, spread, sustainability and satisfaction – the four S’s – for visitors, industry and communities. All activity supports the ambitions of the national tourism strategy, Scotland Outlook 2030, and will drive Scotland’s national events strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage. 

Investments in the country’s tourism product that are encouraging include the V&A Dundee, which has transformed that city’s waterfront. “Looking forward you also have the new Eden Project Dundee, which will convert a former gasworks into a centre for green tourism and learning,” he says. 

Business events also have a central role to play, with the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow featuring the SEC Centre with interconnected exhibition and meeting spaces, the 3,000 seat SEC Armadillo and the OVO Hydro, a 13,000 concert and events arena.

“In Aberdeen there is the P&J Live complex and the International Conference Centre [EICC] in Edinburgh, so we have world-class facilities which collectively make Scotland highly competitive and attractive as a destination for business events.

“There has also been important investment in visitor attractions, like the National Museum of Scotland, Perth Museum and the upcoming Inverness Castle Experience in the very centre of that city.”

Visitors must of course first get here, and Roughead says he has witnessed major improvements around connectivity. “Scotland is a highly attractive destination, and the international airlines wouldn’t be here if the demand didn’t exist,” he says. 

“The links to North America have recovered very strongly since the pandemic, we’re now seeing the long-haul routes to China and Australia picking up as well and the cruise sector brings benefits to some coastal communities through onshore spending.”

Scotland in general has become much more accessible, particularly to long-haul customers and last year the country saw the value of international tourism reach £3.6bn, its all-time highest, and for the first time overtaking the value of UK domestic visitors. 

“Of course, international visitors stay here longer and travel more and we are trying to disperse people from Shetland in the north to Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders in the south, allowing them to see the whole of Scotland and areas which all benefit from that increased visitor spend.”

Roughead is also keen to see improvements in the field of accessible tourism. “That’s an opportunity that probably hasn’t been fully recognised. With one in four people in the UK having a disability or health impairment, the spending power of disabled people to the UK economy is some £274bn.”

“So, if we’re going to make tourism inclusive, we need to make sure that everyone can come and enjoy their visit. There’s still a lot of work to be done but I think we’re now in a pretty good place.”

While agility and innovation are imperative to tackling what is currently an extremely challenging economic and geopolitical landscape, Roughead stresses that while change is a constant that should be embraced, there will always be a focus at VisitScotland on sticking to its long-term priorities. 

“For us this means having a clear purpose around driving growth and value in Scotland and we sum it up by basically saying it means better places for people to live, work and visit, something that is demonstrated time and time again.”

None of this, he adds, can be achieved on its own, with partnership and collaboration being vital ingredients whether with private investors, public and third sector bodies or trade unions. 
“The fascinating thing about tourism is that its effects are felt in just about every corner of the country and across all sectors. People are often surprised when they unpack the impact that tourism has on their business.

“You have only to stand in a hotel lobby to realise that someone laid the carpet, another did the woodwork or are bringing in the food and drink.  All those businesses will benefit from a healthy, burgeoning tourism economy.” 

He highlights VisitScotland is highly regarded globally for its approach to tourism and events and is sought out by many other destinations around the world. The organisation participates in knowledge exchange with like-minded destinations. “We have a memorandum of understanding with Visit Flanders and work closely with the likes of Iceland, New Zealand and Norway. We are also part of NECSTouR, a network of 49 destinations in Europe committed to competitive and sustainable development.” 

As Roughead leaves VisitScotland shortly to improve his golf handicap he’s confident the new leadership team will build on its existing results.  “Tourism is a very competitive landscape and if you’re not giving people what they want they will just go elsewhere,” he says. 

“We ran a visitor survey last year with some 12,000 people, one of the largest we’ve ever done, and more than 82 per cent of visitors said that they’re likely to recommend Scotland, with a rating of nine or 10. So standards have risen and are continuing to rise.”

This article is sponsored by VisitScotland
www.VisitScotland.com