Assessing the economic impacts of nature based tourism in Scotland

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;
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