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

Placing Bets On 2017 UK General Election

With the General Election on June 8th quickly approaching, political betting website BetOnPolitics.co.uk is offering readers live odds on all 650 constituencies. In the past few years political betting has become bis business. One firm alone took £3million on the last UK General Election, and £5million on last year's US Election. Unsurprisingly the bookmakers "anticipate huge bettering interest" on the 2017 snap election. Betting on a range of election markets, including voter turnout and odds for all 650 constituencies, updated in real time, will be live on betonpolitics.co.uk/category/constituency/ in the run-up to June 8th. Phil Loew, ediotr of the BetOnPolitics website, said; "As well as providing the very latest pre-election news, we'll also be working hard to inform our readers about the best odds available on various political markets. "Polls and Election betting markets may suggest that Prime Minister Theresa May is going to win the elec...

Members Appointed To Improve Life For Young People In Care

A full independent care review group has now been established, First Minister Nicolaa Sturgeon confirmed to a reception of care experienced young people from across Scotland on the 30th of May.   The members have been appointed to support the Chair, Fiona Duncan, to undertake an independent review into Scotland's care system.  The group will look at legislation, practices, culture and ethos of the care system across Scotland. They will listen to young people with experience of care and their families and providers of care and particularly, children and young people in care now, to inform its recommendations to improve both the quality of life and outcomes of young people in care.  The First Minister, said; "Every young person should have an equal opportunity to succeed in life, no matter their circumstances. We should celebrate the progress that has been made that has allowed many of our young people who grow up in care to do great things in life, and thos...

Tackling Human Trafficking In Scotland

A Scottish Government strategy will help train professionals to spot the signs of human trafficking and provide new powers to disrupt trafficking activity. The Scottish Government's Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy also highlights the need to better publicise support for victims and confirms that public awareness activity will take place later this year. The strategy aims to identify victims and support them through safety and recovery; identify perpetrators and disrupt their activity and to address the conditions that foster trafficking and exploitation. Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Matheson, said; Developing the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy has included listening to victims themselves, who have provided a unique insight into the physical and psychological damage caused by trafficking. We have emphasised the need to let people know that there is support available for victims, wherever the are recovered in Scotland. "Exposing and eradicating t...