VisitScotland has pledged to help more Scottish businesses to internationalise and build back domestic demand as it unveils its future plans to help grow Scotland's economy.
In its new corporate plan, the national tourism and events organisation has outlined four priority areas for the next three years to help achieve its vision to create better places to live, work and visit.
These include a focus on place development, market development, business and experience development, and organisation development.
The national tourism and events organisation states that it will build on past achievements by enhancing organisational capability, expanding support for the industry, enabling greater connectivity and internationalisation, growing Scotland’s share of global travel in key markets and reinvigorating domestic travel demand.
In 2023, visitor spend was worth £10.8billion to Scotland’s economy. The equivalent to 6% of Scotland’s total economy. The industry also supports 245,000 tourism-related jobs and 16,045 businesses, with growth recorded in each of these areas in the past 12 months.
Similarly, the 2024 UK Event Report found that the events industry generates £61.653billion annually for the economy, with £5.5billion (9%) of that attributed to Scotland. That is equivalent to a further 3% of Scotland’s total economic value.
This supports a wider visitor economy which is often recognised as the foundation of a thriving and sustainable national economy, supporting Scotland’s people and places.
The Globe Inn
Recent growth projections show new tourism-related jobs will grow at nearly double the national growth rate up to 2027, at which time tourism employment will account for one in 8.2 new jobs in Scotland. This employment supports further entrepreneurship, nurtures core workforce skills and creates opportunities for individuals to establish and manage businesses in various sectors such as accommodation, transportation, and food and drink.
However, the rising cost of living and doing business, as well as increased global competition, are among the barriers facing the industry’s growth, with the weaker domestic market, countering strong performance from several key international markets.
In the face of the challenges, VisitScotland’s new corporate plan for 2025-2028 includes a renewed commitment to stimulate demand for Scotland’s renowned tourism and events offering from both UK and international markets.
Using data and insight, VisitScotland will continue to deliver an integrated marketing strategy in key global markets such as North America, Europe, China and the UK, maintaining a minimum marketing return investment of £11 for every £1 spent.
This will be supported by a new business support programme to help businesses and events deliver experiences which adapt and evolve to satisfy the changing demands of future travellers, and meet new investment opportunities.
This includes a focus on helping businesses to achieve net zero while identifying and capitalising on opportunities to reach new audiences and grow demand from existing domestic and overseas visitors.
To enable all of this work, the plan includes a commitment to have the right skills, technology and insight in place, in line with the ambitions of public service reform.
Other key commitments outlined in the plan include:
- Supporting internationalisation and exports, with a minimum of 300 additional Scottish businesses to be ‘travel trade ready’ per annum.
- Sustaining an active presence in key global markets and maintaining a minimum marketing return on investment of 11:1
- Achieving an annual target of 230 business event leads generated, with a combined value of over £130million
- Working with the Scottish Government to secure a pipeline for major events and leveraging these events to deliver on key policy objectives.
- Providing continued leadership to the national visitor management programme, including management of the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund, to deliver infrastructure investment and reduce reported incidents
Vicki Miler, VisitScotland chief executive, said: “Our new corporate plan charts our course as an economic growth agency, detailing how we can and will support Scotland’s tourism and events industry during these challenging times.
“Tourism is sometimes viewed as something that ‘just happens’. But it requires consistent and concerted efforts across the industry to drive sustainable growth and deliver benefits for all. In the years ahead, our work will help to stimulate investment into Scotland -supporting business to create memorable experiences that reach the right audiences, in the markets where we see growth and potential.
“Working together with industry and the public, private and third sectors, we can continue to make Scotland a must-visit, must-return, year-round destination of choice for visitors from near and far.
“Ultimately, this plan will help us build Scotland’s international profile as a leading place to visit, live, work, study and do business.”
For more information and to view VisitScotland’s Corporate Plan 2025-2028: Our Corporate Plan | VisitScotland.org