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Overview

  • Tourism and events is one of Scotland’s most important industries and the second largest growth sector in the Scotland’s economy.
  • The visitor economy creates jobs, stimulates investment and sustains communities across the country, sparking a ripple effect that benefits a wider supply chain.
  • Tourism and events supports many other sectors across Scotland, including food and drink, transport, and construction.
  • The broad nature of tourism and events helps deliver a range of economic, social, health, and wellbeing benefits that are spread across Scotland’s urban, rural, and island communities.
  • The sector contributes to the sustainability of communities via employment generation, cultural and heritage preservation as well as inward investment and skills development.
  • On this page, you will find the latest key headline statistics relating to the importance of the tourism sector.

In this article:

The role of tourism

Growth sector

Tourism is one of six Scottish Government growth sectors.

Value

The sector is worth £10.8 billion in total visitor spend in Scotland (latest data 2023).

Employment

Tourism employs 245,000 people (around one in every eleven jobs in the economy).

Businesses

There are 16,045 tourism businesses in Scotland (around one in eleven registered businesses).

Source: Tourism Statistics and Scottish Government Growth Sector Statistics (2023, 2024)

1. Executive summary

  • Sustainable tourism is the second largest growth sector in the Scottish economy. It accounts for a high share of total growth sector employment (32%) and businesses (22%).
  • Since 2016 tourism employment growth has outperformed the growth sector average (+18% compared to +8%).
  • The number of tourism businesses have also grown compared to a contraction at overall growth sector level (+12% compared to -8%).
  • In 2023, employment in the sustainable tourism sector was 245,000 (9.2% of employment in Scotland).
  • One in eleven jobs in Scotland are within the sustainable tourism sector.
  • In March 2024, there were 16,045 registered enterprises operating in the Sustainable Tourism sector (9.2% of all registered business in Scotland).
  • One in eleven businesses in Scotland are within the sustainable tourism growth sector.

 

  • Market shares of medium and large businesses within the sustainable tourism sector are similar to the Scottish Economy as a whole.
  • The sector has a notably larger share of micro-businesses (1-9 employees) and small businesses (10-49) than the Scottish economy overall.
  • In 2024, 97% of Scottish sustainable tourism registered enterprises were small (0-49 employees), accounting for 51% of employment in this sector. Large enterprises (250+ employees) accounted for 1% of registered enterprises but for 36% of employment.
  • Just over half of the workforce within the sector are female, which is similar to the Scottish Economy as a whole.
  • The majority of enterprises in the sustainable tourism sector were UK owned with their registered office address in Scotland (98%), accounting for 76% of sector employment in 2024.

2. Definitions

Tourism is one of the Scottish Government’s six growth sectors. The tourism growth sector is defined by the activity of 14 Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes. These make up the sustainable tourism sector as defined by Scottish Government.

Browse the full list of the 14 codes.

3. Additional research resources

Scottish growth sector statistics

gov.scot

Find key statistics on sustainable tourism and other sectors with a distinct comparative advantage in Scotland.

National Strategy for Economic Transformation

gov.scot

Read the priorities for Scotland's economy over the next decade.

Other things you might like

About our industry

Research on various types of businesses within the tourism industry. Insights into employment within the sector.

About our visitors

Find out who visits Scotland, what they're interested in, and what they're looking for.