Scotland’s bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels are fuelling a boom in the number people working in Scottish tourism, which has shot up by 11% in just 12 months.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the number of people employed in the sector grew a record 217,000 between 2014 and 2015.
The 11% increase in Scotland is over double the 4% rise in the UK as a whole.
The number of people working behind bars has gone up 27%, and the number of people working in restaurants has increased by 7% increase to 89,000. At 41%, this makes up the biggest sector of the tourism industry.
Just over 53,000 people work in hotels and other accommodation, while 37,200 are involved in “beverage serving activities” – a sector which saw a 27% increase from 2014.
“Food and drink sectors play an important role”
Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop said, “Our tourism industry is going from strength to strength and these figures serve to highlight the vital role that tourism plays in Scotland’s economy. They also show how important the industry is to our rural and coastal economies.
“Our food and drink sectors continue to play an important role in attracting our visitors and creating employment opportunities.”
Edinburgh and Glasgow are the two biggest tourism employers, with 34,600 (11% employment total) and 30,800 (8%) respectively.
But proportionally, tourism has the biggest impact on employment in Argyll and Bute with 6,500 tourism workers represent nearly a fifth (17%) of total employment in the region.
The 15,700 tourism workers in the Highlands makes up 14% of the region’s total, the same percentage as Perth and Kinross, which employs 8,700 people in the industry.
West Dunbartonshire, which boasts the likes of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and Titan Crane, saw a huge 41% jump to 3,100 employees. Dundee saw an increase of 20% to 6,000.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, added, “These fantastic new figures show that, from hotel owners to waiting staff, tourism really is the driving force for providing the jobs of today and tomorrow.
“They also demonstrate the industry’s commitment to the 2020 strategy – which aims to generate economic growth through tourism.”