Skip to main content

Americans Boosting Scottish Tourism Market

Scotland has experienced a 6% surge in overseas visitors in 2016, show new figures.

Figures published yesterday (Thursday, 18th) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlighted an extra 155,000  overseas visits were made to Scotland last year compared with 2015. A majority of the rise has come from North American tourists, who have been long time fans of the Scottish holiday.



Visitors to Scotland from abroad spent an extra £155 million during their stay, a staggering increase of 9% compared to the previous year.

The popularity for Scotland's main cities is also flourishing, providing a positive boost for the nation. Edinburgh has been ranked the second most popular city for overseas visitors, while Glasgow has come in sixth place.

Tourism Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, said: "These figures underline Scotland's appeal as a world-class tourism destination and are a credit to our tourism industry's hard work to attract and welcome more than 2.7 million overseas visitors last year.

"Our overseas visitors spent £1.85 billion in 2016. A welcome boost for our tourism and hospitality sectors and wider economy."

Visits from North America have increased by 18% between 2015-2016, and Scotland has welcomed more that 1.6 million visitors from across Europe.

The Scottish Government has pronounced their commitment to working with VisitScotland and the tourism sector to help build Scotland's reputation as a must visit country and a return destination.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why The 2017 General Election Result Is No Surprise: Opinion

Changing pounds into euros Sunday, following the General Election results was crippling, for my bank account.  In the two hours it took to get from my home to the currency exchange the pound plummeted, costing me an extra eight pounds sterling from the amount I would have paid two hours previously. While in the queue for the till the pound dropped an extra two pounds in fifteen minutes.  Having been given a chance to make positive changes to government and society as a whole the British people queued up on Thursday and said; 'Fuck you, I'm British. I like strife and conflict.' Resulting in the second hung parliament in ten years, not nearly enough time to recover from the Nick Clegg, and David Cameron partnership that got us here in the first place.  Though we could count back this awful system of government and snide politics to Tony Blair and his New Labour campaign.  The vote had a few interesting plot turns, such as Kennsington going home to...

Extra Measures To Protect Scotland's Golden Eagles

Almost a third of golden eagles being tracked by satellite died in suspicious circumstance, scientists have found.  The Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) research identified that the majority of cases were found where land is intensively managed for driven grouse shooting.  Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, confirmed to the Scottish Parliament she will now set up an expert group to look at managing grouse moors sustainably and within the law.  Following a request by the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee the group will also advise on the option of licensing grouse shooting businesses.  The report studied the movements of 131 young golden eagles over a 12 year period, and found more than 40 had disappeared in suspicious circumstances. It also found there was no link between fitting satellite tags and the disappearance of the birds of prey and ruled out any connection with the position of wind turbines.  In response M...

Work-Based Learning Expansion

Hundreds of people will have the opportunity to study for degree-level courses while in employment thanks to a significant expansion of Graduate Level Apprenticeships. A total of 379 places will be made available for individuals to study for a degree, up to Masters levels, while in work in 2017-18. This builds on the investment that delivered a successful pilot of 27 places in the academic year of 2016-17. Skills Development Scotland is working with businesses, universities and colleges to deliver Graduate Level Apprenticeships. The programme aims to meet the needs of employers looking for high levels of academic and industry accreditation combined with experience in the workplace. Minister for Employability and Training, Jamie Hepburn, said; "We carried out a consultation with employers, which identified a need for skills that better support businesses and help them grow. "As a result we have committed to expanding the number of Graduate Level Apprenticeships, br...