All Roads Lead to Scotland: the Success of the Route Development Fund

Scotland leads the way
The success of the RDF was been evident in its first year of operation. Offers of support from the fund were made to around 20 new routes, which were expected to generate economic benefits of £300m over 10 years and create 700 new tourism jobs. Most notable routes were the Emirates service from Glasgow to Dubai and the Continental Airlines service from Edinburgh to New York. In addition Scotland had its first year-round services to Italy.

With this dedicated fund, Scotland was ahead of the game in recognising the need for this kind of initiative, in front of our international competitors. Many airlines were looking for more profitable ventures and Scotland with the RDF, offered a blueprint of how they wanted to develop air travel. Indeed, other countries watched with interest to see the impact the fund had on Scotland. For instance, Northern Ireland set up a similar fund as a result of Scotland’s lead.

At the 9th World Route Development Forum in Edinburgh in 2003, there were a number of enquiries to the RDF from rival destinations keen to hear about the fund and understand Scotland’s success in this area.

Until the launch of the direct route from Glasgow to Dubai in April 2004, the RDF had focused on European destinations serving inbound tourism and business markets.

The largest investment from the fund is the Glasgow International Airport to Dubai route. This was the first time it had supported a Middle Eastern route.

Commenting on the new route, Philip Riddle, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said:

“Direct access is particularly important in today’s tourism environment and this route is a great asset as, not only does it open up the Middle East, but offers vital connections to the Far East and Australasia. These are growth markets with particularly good potential for Scotland through links of history, culture and ancestry. This is a high-quality service that fits with Scotland’s position as a high quality visitor experience.”