Scotland sets new record tourist visits
Photo Courtesy: VisitScotland
Scotland sets new record with 15 per cent increase in overseas arrivals in 2017. The new flight routes and favourable exchange rates are said to be the driving forces behind the increase in foreign tourist arrivals. The combined number of domestic and overseas tourists in Scotland has increased by two percent, taking the tally to 14.1 million visitors.
Overnight trips by Great Britain residents for holiday purpose increased to 8.5 per cent compared to the January-September 2016 period. Expenditure increased £163 million or 12.7 per cent to £1.5 billion over the same period. Although September 2017 saw strong gains in overnight trips to Scotland for Business Travel overall for the year to September, trips and spend recorded declines from a strong performance in 2016. Around £115 million day trips were taken in the first months of 2017, generating £4.6 billion, a remarkable increased compared to the values during the same periods in 2016 and 2015.
The Tourism Authority spokesperson has said that television series locations like Outlander, shot and set in Scotland, has helped the rise in summer visitor numbers last year.
Photo Courtesy: VisitScotland
“We knew anecdotally that tourism businesses across Scotland had a good summer in 2017, but it is absolutely phenomenal to see just how much growth there was compared to the same period in 2016 with overseas visits up by 14.6 per cent and domestic visits up by 10 per cent from July to September,” said Malcolm Roughead, Chief Eexecutive of Visitscotland.
“Key influences include increased capacity on air routes from countries all across the world, favourable exchange rates and of course the Outlander effect which has had a huge impact with many coming to experience the land that inspired the popular books and TV series,” he said.