Assessing the economic impacts of nature based tourism in Scotland

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Table 43 - Activities undertaken on holiday in the Western Isles (%) Year 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008 Sightseeing 86.0 87.0 85.5 81.6 87.6 82.7 Beaches/seashore 69.8 73.1 70.3 71.1 77.3 71.2 Photography 58.6 56.3 54.5 51.8 58.2 51.2 Hillwalking 54.3 54.8 54.5 49.4 53.3 44.2 Birdwatching 39.2 46.4 42.9 39.8 43.7 43.8 Flora/fauna 37.5 44.1 37.6 36.2 41.8 41.9 This shows a fairly steady pattern where general sightseeing and enjoyment of the beaches and seashore are the main activities engaged in by visitors, although sizeable numbers will also engage in specific activities associated with the natural environment. The regional market analysis produced for the Argyll, Loch Lomond and Forth Valley Tourism Partnership (2006) presents a picture of the visitors to the area. The main motivator for visitors to Argyll is identified as the scenery (40%), while of visitors to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs 17% come to see the beautiful countryside and lochs. 80% of visitors to Argyll and 69% of visitors to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs undertook general sightseeing. 11.2 Motivation and activities undertaken - national surveys Harris Interactive (2008) found that the scenery is the top reason for choosing Scotland as a holiday destination for both UK and International visitors - 66% rated it as very important and 24% as important in influencing their decision to visit. For nature and wildlife, 35% rated it a very important and 30% an important factor, while the opportunity for outdoor activities was regarded as a very important factor by 28% of visitors and important by 30%. The activities undertaken by visitors were found to be: Table 44 - Activities participated in whilst in Scotland (%) UK visitors International visitors General sightseeing 91 92 Short walks (less than 2 miles) 81 84 Explored Scottish scenery 73 82 Toured around the country 63 83 Watched for wildlife (birds, dolphins, otters etc) 56 n/a This picture is somewhat different from that given in VisitScotland’s factsheet (2009), which sets out the 3 year average for a number of the activities undertaken by UK visitors to Scotland. The relevant figures are: 69
Table 45 - UK visitor activities undertaken in Scotland UK holiday trips % Hiking, hillwalking etc 47 Touring/sightseeing 13 Wildlife watching and zoo parks 9 Adventure sports 4 Fishing 4 Golf 3 Cycling 3 This suggests a much lower figure for the percentage of visitors from the UK who identify touring and sightseeing as an activity they did while on holiday, with many more taking part in some form of walking. This is likely to be because, when asked about their activities while on holiday, most visitors did not regard sightseeing as a distinct activity - indeed the 13% figure might be the number of people on a specific touring holiday who are not taking part in other outdoor activities. Explanations for this might also include the fact that, unlike the various regional surveys, the VisitScotland figures include visitors to cities such as Edinburgh or Glasgow, where scenery would be a less important motivation. However, it is important to note that even for visitors to cities the Scottish countryside can be important. For example, the Glasgow Visitor Survey (LJ Research & Halo Research, 2008) suggests that 14% of visitors to the city went on an excursion out of the city during their visit (including 35% of visitors from overseas). TNS’s visitor survey in Edinburgh (2008b) shows that UK visitors spent 67% of the nights in their trip in the city, European visitors 60% and visitors from further afield 21%. 11.3 Car touring In terms of car use, whilst 67% of tourism trips to Scotland from the UK are made by car (VisitScotland, 2009), there is a wide difference in transport used in Scotland between types of visitor. For example, the Highland visitor survey (George Street Research, 2003) shows 66% of visitors using their own car during their trip. This varies between 85% of Scottish visitors (excluding Highland residents) to 27% of overseas visitors. However, 46% of overseas visitors used a rental car and the combined car (and motor home) use was 85%. It is evident that many of the visitor attractions which are located in more rural areas, in particular the areas of natural beauty, can be accessed almost exclusively by car or private coach. Connell and Page (2007) in their paper on the spatial patterns of carbased tourist travel in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, note that car transport is a vital element in wider tourism, yet there is a surprising lack of research on the role of the car in overall tourism travel patterns, behaviour and motivations where the visual characteristics of the countryside and landscape are enjoyed by car-users. 11.4 Conclusions The regional and national evidence would support a view that: • The scenery and landscape plays a major part in attracting visitors to Scotland; • A high proportion of both UK and international visitors tour Scotland and/or go sightseeing to view the scenery; 70
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Scottish Natural Heritage Commissio
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COMMISSIONED REPORT Summary Assessi
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7 CYCLING 45 7.1 Mountain biking 45
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List of Tables Page Table 1 - Natur
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1.3 Nature-based tourism For the pu
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market and accounts for 83% of tour
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expenditure during these trips was
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nature site • . Were this spend t
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Team members already held many rele
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2.3.2 Assessing employment and inco
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• Common resources, which are use
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4 FIELD SPORTS The findings from th
Page 25 and 26: 4.2 Deer management The Contributio
Page 27 and 28: Table 11 - Deer Management in Scotl
Page 29 and 30: • Sea angling questions incorpora
Page 31 and 32: 4.6 Other studies • The trips mos
Page 33 and 34: 3. The Economic Impact of Game and
Page 35 and 36: 5 WILDLIFE WATCHING 5.1 Wildlife to
Page 37 and 38: These impacts appear to us to be ov
Page 39 and 40: Wildlife watching Substantial but n
Page 41 and 42: • Abseiling - allows safe descent
Page 43 and 44: Client: HIE, SNH and VisitScotland
Page 45 and 46: those who said they were walking al
Page 47 and 48: oute was estimated to be in the reg
Page 49 and 50: participants, though in terms of vo
Page 51 and 52: Visit Scotland (2009) provides a fi
Page 53 and 54: This evaluation assessed the ultima
Page 55 and 56: For these motivational reasons, Gre
Page 57 and 58: 8 HORSE RIDING 8.1 Equestrian sport
Page 59 and 60: 9 WATERSPORTS Some watersports can
Page 61 and 62: Watersports are defined in this rep
Page 63 and 64: The methodology resulted in small s
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Page 67 and 68: Forest Table 29 - Mean spend per tr
Page 69 and 70: Scotland’s canals: the economic e
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Page 73 and 74: explore the issues they saw as bein
Page 75: Recent visitor surveys in Orkney (A
Page 79 and 80: 12 THE NATURAL HERITAGE IN SCOTLAND
Page 81 and 82: 12.4 International marketing Intern
Page 83 and 84: Scotland’s NNR Magical Places Ama
Page 85 and 86: 13 PAN-SCOTLAND ANALYSIS 13.1 Reaso
Page 87 and 88: Table 49 - Value of tourism outside
Page 89 and 90: The total of which this contributio
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Page 93 and 94: Table 52 - Estimated Impacts by act
Page 95 and 96: 14 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESE
Page 97 and 98: Recommendation 4: It would be desir
Page 99 and 100: George Street Research and Jones Ec
Page 101 and 102: Press and Journal. 2010. Tourists g
Page 103 and 104: Appendix A: Categories of Natural H
Page 105 and 106: • (Mixed - 19%) The types of walk
Page 107 and 108: Cycling Segments Scott Porter’s 2
Page 109 and 110: aqua / snorkelling) or on longer ho
Page 111 and 112: Appendix B - Methodological Notes 1
Page 113: www.snh.gov.uk © Scottish Natural
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Assessing the economic impacts of nature based tourism in Scotland

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