Friday, February 7, 2025
Friday, February 7, 2025
HomeTourismFirst minister announces £5.5M tourism funding at STA conference

First minister announces £5.5M tourism funding at STA conference

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon addressed the Scottish Tourism Alliance conference in Glasgow today after its launch of ‘Scotland Outlook 2030’. She announced a £5.5M funding package over the next five years to make Scotland a world leader in 21st century tourism.

The Scottish Government and Visit Scotland have created the new £5.5 million fund to support the implementation of the strategy which has been developed through a shared vision and strong partnership between the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Government, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland.

It has been guided by the Strategy Steering Group with representatives from industry, public bodies and the partner organisations with the input of around 2500 stakeholders.

Said Sturgeon, “I welcome the publication of the new tourism strategy for Scotland. The sector is vitally important to Scotland, supporting more than 200,000 jobs and contributing over £7 billion to our economy.

“The Scottish Government and VisitScotland have created a new £5.5 million fund to support the implementation of the strategy, ensuring that the industry is equipped to deal with the demands of modern tourism and is supported to grow sustainably in the years ahead. Scotland is blessed with an abundance of breath-taking scenery and rich historical sites which continue to attract people from across the world.”

Scotland Outlook 2030 acknowledges that tourism has a significant role in delivering Scotland’s wider economic strategy, while recognising that role of tourism has changed as a result of our climate crisis, advances in technology, EU exit and changes in consumer behaviour which is reflected in the demands of today’s traveller.

Four key priorities have been identified as the cornerstones of the strategy – ‘Our passionate people’, ‘Our thriving places’, ‘Our diverse businesses’ and ‘Our memorable experiences’, each with a set of measurable commitments which will be delivered by government, industry, private and public sector with Scotland’s communities.

The strategy also outlines the challenges and threats to our industry along with the opportunities that can be capitalised on to realise the bold new ambition of being the world leaders in 21st century tourism.

The national tourism conference provided the backdrop for the new strategy launch with the one-and-a-half day event built around four Signature Sessions to mirror the key priorities.  The event, the largest to be staged by the STA welcomed just under 500 delegates and a host of international and homegrown tourism experts.

Themes such as food tourism, sustainability, events and experiences, transport, innovation and building a strong workforce for the future provide the focus for this year’s event and delegates will also hear from tourism experts with experience of delivering bold new tourism strategies in destinations such as Holland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland.

- Advertisment -

Most Popular