An open letter to Scotland’s next MSPs from Marc Crothall MBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Tourism Alliance
In your newly elected role as an MSP, you will need to make many choices. These choices will define you and your time at Holyrood. Choices require priorities to be set, and if creating jobs, economic growth and funding public services in the long run are among your top priorities for Scotland, then the tourism and hospitality industry is also.
There is not a constituency or region in Scotland where our industry is not a critical source of employment and business – tourism-related industries are now the single biggest source of employment in Scotland.
Visitors to Scotland spend £11.4 billion a year. The sector supports around 239,000 jobs and more than 16,000 businesses nationwide. It sustains communities across Scotland, from our cities and towns to rural and island areas.
It is also one of Scotland’s most important export earners, bringing vital external spending into the economy. Just as importantly, it serves as one of the country’s most powerful shop windows to the world, not only as a place to visit but also as a place to work, live, study, and invest.
Tourism does not simply benefit from a strong economy. It drives one. Tourism and hospitality are a vital part of Scotland’s economy, but they can no longer be taken for granted.
As Scotland prepares to welcome a new Parliament, every MSP should understand both the value of this sector and the pressures facing the businesses within it.
Recent Scottish Tourism Alliance research shows that half of Scotland’s tourism and hospitality businesses are at risk due to a lack of cash reserves. That should concern every incoming MSP.
Scottish tourism and hospitality businesses are currently dealing with multiple challenges, many of which have been exacerbated by current geopolitical events
- Rising operating costs
- Workforce and skills shortages
- Business rates and tax pressures
- Housing challenges, particularly in rural and island areas
- Fragile transport links and poor digital connectivity
- Increasing regulatory burden
- A more competitive and price-sensitive market
- Pressure to keep investing while margins are being squeezed
These are not side issues. They go to the heart of whether businesses can recruit, invest, improve, grow and compete, and whether Scotland can maintain the quality and competitiveness of its visitor offering.
The next Parliament must therefore be clear in its ambition and practical in its support. That means:
- Appointing a named Cabinet Secretary or Minister with clear responsibility for the sector
- Accelerating business rates reform
- Nurturing the tourism and hospitality sector rather than stifling growth, working in partnership with business to identify, shape and deliver a new set of ambitious policies
- Developing a Scottish Tourism and Hospitality Growth Plan that recognises the sector’s role as a priority growth sector and key export industry
- Empowering, protecting and investing long-term in the tourism and hospitality sector to support competitiveness, confidence and growth
- Urgently investing in our people to address sector recruitment and retention challenges
- Positioning and investing in the tourism and hospitality sector as a future industry, embracing new developments in AI and other technologies
- Holding a national debate on the economic policy, bringing together the Scottish and UK Governments and opposition parties to shape ambitious policies for transformational economic growth that will raise GDP per head in Scotland
- Delivering transport and digital connectivity that sets Scotland out as a world leader in 21st century tourism
It is important to remember that every MSP will be representing tourism and hospitality businesses in their own constituencies or regions.
Scotland has the opportunity to be a world leader in 21st-century tourism, but that will only happen if the sector is properly understood, prioritised and supported.
Global competition is getting stronger every day, and we cannot be left behind.
Businesses need more than warm words. They need the confidence and conditions to invest, recruit, improve, grow and compete in a global market.
If we get this right, tourism and hospitality can deliver more jobs, more investment, stronger communities and greater economic value for Scotland, supporting our vital public services.
If we do not, we risk holding back one of Scotland’s strongest economic assets and opportunities.
Marc Crothall MBE
Chief Executive
Scottish Tourism Alliance