Question reference: S3W-04263
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 12 September 2007
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Current status: Answered by Jim Mather on 21 September 2007
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the review by VisitScotland which showed that the number of tourists visiting Perthshire and Kinross fell by 8% in 2006-07 and by 15% over the last two years.
Answer
I understand thatthe figures quoted are from the VisitScotland Partnership Agreement report,which was released in August this year, and are for the numbers of visitorsusing tourist information centres (TICs) in the Perth and Kinross area. I am pleased to report that the number of visitors tothe area has actually increased, with a 5% rise in visitor numbers from 2005 to2006, and a 2% increase in revenue in the same period.
It appears that withnew advances in technology, visitor requirements for information are changing,and many visitors now seek information and make bookings online, rather than atTICs. The decrease in numbers of visitors to TICs is therefore in line with thetrend elsewhere. VisitScotland are responding to this trend by making changesin the ways they provide information and booking services to visitors duringtheir stay in Scotland.