Major investment announced to support tourism in Scotland

The Scottish government has announced a multi-million-pound package of support to help tourism and hospitality businesses recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The funding package includes £4m for VisitScotland to deliver the Days Out scheme which will help support the tourism sector throughout the year, by increasing visitor numbers to tourist attractions during the quieter winter months.

It will also provide £3m for domestic marketing to highlight Scotland as tourism destination, and £1.4m for holiday vouchers for carers and low-income families.

More than 60 jobs have also been funded to support rural areas to cope with higher visitor numbers, due to the rise in staycations this summer.

This announcement is part of wider £129m investment in the sector, which has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

Economy secretary, Kate Forbes, said: ‘The past year has been extremely difficult for many businesses, especially in our prized tourism and hospitality sector. As well as being impacted by the necessary public health restrictions to curtail the spread of the virus, Brexit has also caused problems, particularly regarding staffing and supplies.

‘The Scottish Government has worked closely with industry at every stage of the pandemic to deliver where we can on its asks, including 100% non-domestic rates relief, specific restart grants and funding to help alleviate staffing concerns.

‘As we begin to carefully emerge and recover from the pandemic, we must work together to seize Scotland’s potential and build an economy for everyone by delivering greater, greener and fairer prosperity. Our tourism and hospitality sector is key to the Scottish economy and we will continue to listen carefully to the support it needs to bounce back from the pandemic.’

In related news, projects aiming to transform towns and neighbourhoods could apply to a new £10m multi-year fund, announced by the Scottish government.

Photo by Connor Mollison