Scotland residents' views on the role of tourism

• Tourism is a force for good, creating economic and social value across communities in Scotland.
• As part of work underwayto engage with our local communities and listen to the views on the ground, we have conducted research with Scotland's residents.
• The research was commissioned by VisitScotland and carried out by 56 Degrees Insight.
• We studied how Scotland’s residents feel about the Scottish tourism industry and explored their opinionon therole of tourism and the positive and negatives of tourism.
• Fieldwork took place between 27 October and 4 November 2021 and 1,000 respondents completed an online survey. Further information on the sample is available within the full report to download.

Views on tourism

• There is an agreement amongst residents that the tourism industry is important for Scotland, with 94% of respondents saying they view the industry positively.
• The wide-ranging role of tourism to Scotland was recognised by the residents we surveyed.

Positives and Negatives

• The top-of-mind benefits about the industry were the economic benefits, the opportunity to showcase the beauty of Scotland and employment opportunities.
• The top-of-mind negatives associated with tourism were overcrowding, increased litter and a negative carbon footprint/impact on climate change.

Perceptions on Local Area

• Around a third of Scotland residents feel that the area they live in is undoubtedly a holiday or short break destination (32%). 33% feel their area is visited for holidays and short breaks by some people.
• For those living in tourism areas, 84% agree that locally tourism supports jobs in food, retail and other sectors. 51% feel it adds to the amount of traffic on the roads and results in congestion and delays.

Recovery from Covid-19

• 87% of those living in tourist areas believe that tourism will aid recovery of their local area from the Covid-19 pandemic.