Associate feature: Scotland: building a sustainable destination

Scotland’s natural beauty, rich heritage and vibrant communities make it a world-class destination — but with this comes the responsibility to protect and preserve it for future generations.

Responsible tourism brings a wide range of benefits to Scotland: providing visitors with enriching experiences, building business resilience, and benefiting our communities and the environment. 

We want to make sure we are supporting those who are on the frontline of welcoming visitors to create and deliver quality responsible tourism experiences that make Scotland a must-visit, must-return, year-round destination.

We recently embarked on a new chapter in our business support journey. Our year-round programme of free-to-access support will help businesses to develop responsibly and connect with new audiences hungry for meaningful travel experiences. 

At the heart of this approach is our new Business Support Hub, a curated website that will be the go-to place for tourism and event advice and support. Businesses can play a vital role in shaping responsible growth, ensuring visitors can enjoy Scotland’s wonders while minimising environmental impact and supporting local communities. 

The new Hub includes practical guidance and actionable steps to help businesses integrate responsible tourism into both their planning and day-to-day operations. From reducing carbon emissions and managing waste to promoting cultural heritage and fostering positive visitor experiences, we want to help guide businesses’ contribution to a thriving future for Scotland.

Our digital-first, but not digital only, approach to business support represents a change in how we deliver some of our key activity. It’s part of a wider strategic change programme guided by insight, data and responding to the Public Service Reform agenda. This is an opportunity to ensure we are having the maximum impact for the money we invest – to grow the visitor economy and support the development of markets, places, businesses and experiences.

Our research shows visitors are increasingly conscious of their impact on their own and the planets’ wellbeing. With Scotland being famed for its breathtaking natural beauty, our market development activities are focusing on a Good for the Soul theme. This aims to provide a platform for our unique Scottish stories, forging deeper connections with visitors seeking meaningful travel experiences. 

Nature-based tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Europe and therefore our focus is on responsible and regenerative experiences. These enrich our visitors’ experiences, our neighbourhoods, and our nature. There is a clear opportunity here to build upon Scotland’s competitive advantage.

With that in mind, we’re already working to help create low carbon itineraries and connect visitors with the types of nature and community-based experiences they’re looking for. We’re also encouraging businesses to understand the business case for developing such experiences. To do this, we’re working with some outstanding global partners - leader in sustainable travel, The Travel Corporation, international sustainable tourism organisation, the Travel Foundation and responsible tourism non-profit, Tourism Cares.

Our management of the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund on behalf of Scottish Government is an important part of our approach to place development. The fund aims to improve the visitor and community experience in rural areas of Scotland that are experiencing pressures. 

Since opening in 2018, £20 million has been awarded to 75 projects across rural Scotland and it has helped leverage more than £16 million in additional funding for these rural areas. 

We will continue to work collaboratively to tackle the biggest challenges facing our tourism and events sector and embrace the opportunities responsible tourism offers.

This article is sponsored by VisitScotland.

www.visitscotland.org