A Taste for Events - EventScotland

A TASTEFOR FOODVISITORS TO SCOTLANDSPEND WELL OVER£ 1 /2 BILLION P/A ONFOOD AND DRINKEach year over 15 millionvisitors enjoy holidays andshort breaks in Scotland andspend over £4 billion. Just over80% of our visitors come from theUK and they account for over twothirds of all visitor spend in Scotland.Detailed surveys tell us what thesevisitors spend their money on.Their biggest expenditure item isaccommodation; second is foodand drink. Food and drink is avital element of the overall visitorexperience of Scotland and, intotal, our visitors spend well over£½ billion a year on eating anddrinking.VisitScotland research shows thatover 70% of visitors to our countrysay they want to enjoy traditionaldishes, regional specialities andfresh, local produce while they arein Scotland,Even better, the majority of visitorssay they are prepared to pay a littlemore for locally produced Scottishfood as they expect it to be fresher,better tasting and to give them amore genuine feel for the area theyare visiting.More detailed research undertakenby Scottish Enterprise through theExperiencing Scotland projectindicates that, on average, visitorsare willing to pay between 7-8%extra for fresh, quality, localScottish food.There is a clear business opportunityfor both tourism businesses andproducers across Scotland toincrease their income by offeringvisitors more quality, local produce.This guide aims to help eventorganisers, tourism businesses andfood producers to make the mostof this outstanding opportunity.4