The Bigger Picture

The private sector plays a comparatively weak role at the policy and strategy levels of Scottish tourism. Every effort has been made in the past to involve the industry in various consultation procedures but, when viewed against other countries, the industry in Scotland has played a relatively ineffectual role, even though it is represented on national, regional and local boards and committees. The Scottish Tourism Forum has had very little impact in its early years (it was formed in 1993), when compared with its counterparts in other countries, but in the last few years it has greatly increased its effectiveness.

There are important lessons to be learned from:

The powerful roles which the private sector is now playing in Ireland (ITIC, TMP etc), Costa Rica (CANATUR), New Zealand (TIANZ) and British Columbia.

Given that all eight countries have placed public-private interaction as a key priority for the future, it will be important to monitor their activities and progress over the next few years and to learn from their experience. In particular, there are moves in New Zealand and Germany to establish closer working relationships between the NTO and the main body representing the private sector where, in both cases, the latter are known to be strong and influential. At the more local level, the RTA structure in Ireland is regarded as a useful benchmark against which to compare the ATBs in Scotland, in terms of funding, roles, representation, strengths and weaknesses.