Associate feature: Wings to the World

Since the birth of the modern railway system exactly 200 years ago (and the subsequent royal endorsement of visits to Scotland by an enthusiastic young Queen Victoria) the momentum of the country’s tourism industry has been unstoppable.  

Visitors now bring billions of pounds to the Scottish economy every year, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs with opportunities for communities and businesses, new investment in towns, cities and rural areas – and a vibrant cultural scene.  

When Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014 it proved beyond doubt that the country could attract and organise major events on a global scale. Other international attractions emphasising its global brand famously include the Open Championship at courses such as Carnoustie, St Andrews and Royal Troon. 

The statistics are impressive: more than 16,000 businesses in the sector result in 245,000 jobs while visitors spend £10.8bn annually and events generate £5.5bn for the country’s economy.  
Overall, the visitor economy represents some nine per cent of the country’s total economy and is its single biggest sector of employment.

Vicki Miller became CEO of VisitScotland, the country’s national tourism and events agency, in October 2024 on the retiral of Malcolm Roughead, who had led its progress during the previous 14 years. 

As with Roughead, Miller – who had been director of marketing and digital since 2019 – says that every day at VisitScotland brings different opportunities and challenges.

Her role at the organisation is in providing vision, leadership and strategic direction to her team as well as stakeholders in the Scottish tourism and events industry.

“In recent years I led a strategic change programme in the business. The focus following the Covid pandemic was on helping the industry to recover, making sure that Scotland maintained its profile both at home and internationally, and to stimulate demand again,” she says.

VisitScotland is currently focused on delivery of its Corporate Plan 2025-2028, launched in April, outlining how it will support the sustainable growth of tourism and events, positioning Scotland as a must-visit, must-return destination.

While she says the sector itself is significant, behind the direct economic benefit to tourism and events businesses there is also a wider impact felt across other industries and communities that is equally important.

In addition to Miller’s appointment as CEO last year, Stephen Leckie, the CEO and executive chair of Crieff Hydro became chair of the organisation. 

They and the wider leadership team will be working over the next three years to help ensure that in its role as an economic growth agency, the organisation focuses on activities that will drive the visitor economy growing its value to Scotland. 

The challenges may seem daunting, but Miller is confident that the country’s already successful visitor economy will continue to prosper with the right investment and support. “We recognise that in recent years the world has changed a lot and that goes beyond the way in which technology and increasingly AI are changing the way in which consumers plan and book travel.

“There are also the evolving needs of businesses which have had to navigate challenges like cost-of-living rises, which has had a particular impact on domestic visitors, not just in Scotland, but in the whole of the UK.  That though has seen a stronger performance in the first quarter of this year, which is encouraging,” she says. 

“However, when families are travelling, they’re perhaps spending a little less, or are shortening their stay, which had an impact in 2023 and 2024. We know that retirees and professionals with greater financial resilience are more likely to travel, representing immediate prospects we can target to come to Scotland.”

The US, she says, is the single biggest market for international visitors and VisitScotland has been assiduously working to raise the profile of direct flights into the country. Accounting for inflation, she says international tourism is 22 per cent greater than it was pre-pandemic, and five per cent up on 2023. 

“There’s been quite a focus on long-haul travel, particularly from North America. Looking at aviation this year, we have 30 per cent more seats and planes coming into Scotland from the US which means 100,000 more seats this year. And with 7,000 more seats, there is a seven per cent uplift in direct flights from Canada.”

The US, she adds, accounts for 25 per cent of all overseas trips and 40 per cent of overseas spend and this market has grown significantly. “We’ve also seen a positive uplift from Europe and the 2024 data shows an increase in spend from our key European markets by 13 per cent.” 

While this is a positive story, she concedes that the potential for growth has been stifled somewhat by a softer domestic market that is impeded not by lack of demand but by cost-of-living constraints.

“Our aim is to build on the recovery of the domestic market while stimulating that international demand and you’ll see from our corporate plan that there’s a focus on market development, place development and business development.”

VisitScotland’s attention, she says, is not only on the markets that are currently rewarding – such as the US, France, Italy and Germany but on those – including China, India, the UAE and Australia – which have potential for long-term growth.

“It’s these longer-haul markets in which we’re seeing an increase in visitation and high value trips, and they represent a real opportunity to support growth in the sector.”  

As an example, she cites the return of Scotland’s only direct service to China and the direct Washington route which Edinburgh Airport announced in May will now operate year-round.

“That again is testament to the interest and demand in that part of the world for travel to Scotland,” she says.

As part of VisitScotland’s aspiration toward sustainability and internationalisation she says: “I want tourism to be seen as a force for good, and that means working closely with our destination partners, local authorities, destination management organisations (DMOs), chambers of commerce and others that have an interest in the visitor economy around the country.

“It’s also important to ensure regional tourism strategies and regional economic partnerships see the value of investing in the visitor economy because of that potential for growth and the value of collaboration.”

A case in point is the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) which the organisation manages on behalf of the Scottish Government. This helps deliver projects to improve the visitor experience in rural parts of Scotland which are experiencing visitor management issues. 

A collaborative approach also extends to VisitScotland’s role in festivals and events. “Support for cultural events helps generate visitor spend and interest in the destination year-round, so we are targeting events that have potential for growth while taking place outside the traditional tourist season,” says Miller. 

The event economy is part of a wider picture, one that is vital to Scotland’s prosperity. She highlights the recent Genesis Scottish Open, which in 2024 generated £19.2m. “Of the £10.8m visitor spend, £7.8m was very local to East Lothian – so not only do such events have a major regional significance but also give us prominence on the global stage.”

This then is an important part of VisitScotland’s approach to place and destination development – supporting local economic development while leveraging public and private investment and facing the challenges of climate change and net zero – and highlighting areas with capacity is clearly something that VisitScotland is in a unique position to achieve.

“If you type ‘things to do in Scotland’ into a search engine, what will come back is AI-curated and will service the most popular destinations, so what is important for our strategy is creating quality content that, while being recognised by the chatbots, also promotes our wealth of experience. 

“That content development and storytelling space is vital for us as the information is then being used by the chatbots on platforms such as Expedia and TripAdvisor who are using our content to shape their itineraries.” 

It’s an approach she adds that extends beyond promoting Scotland as a desirable place to visit but also as a place to live, work, study and invest in.

“We can really elevate Scotland’s global reputation through the work that we do. Investing in the visitor economy is in Scotland’s wider interest because whether it is the international students attracted here, the burgeoning creative industries or the food and drink sector, our work showcases the fact that there is a real benefit to investing in the visitor economy as a key growth sector.”

And, she adds, for every pound the organisation spends in marketing Scotland it delivers £18 back to the Scottish economy.  

It is inevitably a competitive landscape with United Nations World Tourism Organisation data predicting a growth in global tourism of three to four per cent per annum. 

“Currently many companies are not making a profit, so it’s a key part of our strategy to help connect businesses with new audiences and new markets, particularly the international market which represents longer stays and higher spend – and to see more regions of Scotland benefiting from those visitors. That’s a real opportunity for us in the coming years.” 

This article was sponsored by VisitScotland