A new team has been created to bring major tourism investment projects to Scotland. It is being led by Scottish Development International and is working closely with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, VisitScotland and local authorities.

The team has been active, despite controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s proposal to build a golf course on the coast north of Aberdeen. But now the agencies are developing the NIPT as a way of further aligning their expertise.

Although Scotland’s tourism industry has been doing well, having recovered from a major downturn at the start of the decade and is currently thriving in a competitive global market, experts believe that natural growth will not be sufficient to meet the ambition to grow tourism revenue by 50 per cent by 2015.

The sector is dominated by businesses that, while essential in achieving the aim, have limited potential to achieve a step-change in employment and economic impact. Industry experts believe that while there is scope for these businesses to expand through capital investment, a focus is needed on understanding the market, identifying the gaps and then prioritising investment.

They believe there could be scope for quality hotel/resort/marina-type developments and the environment should be created where this form of investment is prioritised.

Professor John Lennon, of Glasgow Caledonian University’s Business School, said that there was a need to quickly formulate an argument for a national investment plan which would put emphasis on prioritising zones away from Edinburgh and Glasgow. “The high level goal being to continue to facilitate the development of an economically and environmentally sustainable and spatially balanced tourism sector in Scotland,” he said, highlighting the need to develop rural tourism.

Lennon said the plan would be driven by what the market needs rather than what the industry wanted to supply, but could include three hotel resorts, four marinas, three five-star hotels and four major timeshare and fractional ownership resorts. It would be offered to local authorities in key areas and, if there was interest, they should receive central clearance from regulatory and conservation bodies.

“In this way a short list of products and realistic sites can be created. This will form the basis of the national investment prospectus which we can then take to market,” he said.