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There is a silver cloud to the credit crunch for the Scottish tourist industry.

As the grip of recession tightens, Scotland is looking a more and more attractive prospect for two of the most important sources of inbound visitors.

The fall of sterling against the dollar is giving added appeal to the vital Northern American market and the slide of the pound against the Euro is making it attractive in the Euro zone, including the important German market.

That, combined with the Homecoming celebrations which are now underway, could provide the platform for a major long term boost for tourism.

It gives Scotland the edge in the battle for business with all the other countries which now have a tourism offering.

"Tourism is worth £367 million to Aberdeen City and Shire, it supports 8% of employment in the area and it is a sustainable industry - but it is one which is overshadowed by some of the more headline grabbing activity," he said.

"It is not just environmentally sustainable, which is important, but socially because it can help sustain rural communities which is really important for Aberdeenshire. Tourism is going to be around when a lot of other industries are long gone from this area."

Ken's job and the job of VisitScotland is to sell Scotland not only internationally, but also nationally, and he believes it is an amazing product to sell.

"It has to be completely driven by quality because Scotland will never be a mass market tourism destination, will never be Spain, and nor should we be. But we are a quality destination and we are engaged with visitor attractions and with accommodation providers right across the board in terms of quality assurance and we assist them in driving quality.

"Quality doesn't mean luxury. You can have a quality experience at whatever star rating level of accommodation you stay in and one of the most important things for a visitor to Scotland is the authenticity of the experience and the warm welcome they receive.

"That warm welcome is something which is free but it actually adds significant value to the visitors' experience and the quality of that experience and it goes a long way to making Aberdeen City and Shire a must-visit and must-return destination which is so important for us."

He said that Homecoming, which started on Burns Night, provides the perfect springboard for a Scottish tourism boost at a time when the state of the pound makes it so attractive.

To try to capitalise VisitScotland has done a vast amount of international marketing to connect with the Scottish Diaspora and anyone who has a general love for Scotland.

"There is an estimate of 28 million Scots across the world in that Diaspora, people claiming to have some sort of Scottish connection, and we are in contact with 2500 Diaspora and Scots interest groups. That basically represents one million people a month hearing about Homecoming.

"The ‘I am a Scot' campaign will reach 95 million people across the world.

"But tourism is everyone's business and we are all our own ambassadors and we can all support our tourism industry right on the doorstep simply by recommendation or by actually visiting these places ourselves.

"We are very guilty of not appreciating what is right on our doorstep. We have some fantastic places for any age group and any background to access and enjoy and once you have done it is much easier to articulate to people who are coming to visit, whether friends or family or people on business, and actually sell the whole experience to them as well.

"It is important to get over the quality of the experience, the authenticity of the experience. Visitors love to meet Scottish people and think that is a very important part of the authentic holiday experience. That is where we can add real value which will encourage repeat visits."

He said that Homecoming should be the catalyst for a long term connection with the Scottish Diaspora.

"We cannot underestimate what that could be worth. Homecoming could be worth £40 million with 100,000 visitors but one of the key things is how it has inspired people already.

"Fifty percent of people who live in England have never visited Scotland so we are doing a lot of domestic advertising and probably our best ambassadors for Scotland are the five million people who live here. Homecoming is great opportunity, or excuse, for them to invite their friends and family or maybe those they went to university with, back."

Details of Homecoming events in Aberdeen City and Shire are available at:

http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/visit/homecoming.asp