Rise in number of tourists to Scotland

Scotland’s tourism is booming according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics. In 2014, 15 million overseas and domestic tourists visited Scotland and spent £4.7 billion. Tourism from overseas increased 11% which was 10% up from 2013. Scottish Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing commented, “I welcome these figures which are hugely encouraging and show Scotland’s tourism industry continuing to grow as we outperform Great Britain as a whole.”

Mr. Ewing, speaking at a celebration of European Maritime, praised Visit Scotland for their work in promoting Scotland as a top visitor destination to people abroad. He also applauded the people of Scotland, “The success is also due to the warmth of welcome of our people. Their drive and commitment to showcasing Scotland on an international stage is delivering results and helping to provide a memorable visitor experience for our guests.”

The majority of overseas tourists were from Europe and the number of visitors from North America rose 28% to over 500,000. Scotland played host to a number of international events in 2014 and Mr Ewing praised these events for raising Scotland’s profile, “2014 has taken Scotland’s profile to great heights with the eyes of the world on Scotland as we hosted the hugely successful Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and the MTV Europe Music Awards and as well as being the Year of Homecoming.”

He concluded, “With 2015 being the Year of Food and Drink, we are determined to build on this success for the future.”

Category: News, Uncategorized archive
Tags: Fergus Ewing, Office for National Statistics, SCOTLAND, Scottish tourism, tourism figures