 Ayrshire tourism received
a welcome boost with the announcement by Tourism Minister Frank McAveety of
the long awaited package of measures to stimulate growth in the sector.
Constituency MSP and Rural Development Minister Allan Wilson was a member of
the Ministerial Group considering the current state of the tourism industry
and the funding and support available to it from the public sector.
“Gross tourism revenues which had been falling for several years until 2001,
grew by 6.5% in 2002 to £4.5 billion with further strong growth experienced
last year” said Mr Wilson.
“An industry shaken by the events of 2001 has shown how resilient it is, and
how important it is to Scotland’s rural economy as well as to our cities.”
“That’s why I was pleased to contribute an additional £3m from the Rural
Development budget towards marketing Scotland in parts of the UK and
overseas tourism markets that have yet to be fully exploited” said Mr
Wilson.
“This investment will help attract more visitors to Scotland and from there
to North Ayrshire. We have tremendous natural assets in Arran, Largs,
Cumbrae and the Clyde Coast and I am determined that they are marketed
extensively” said Mr Wilson.
“World tourism is forecast to continue growing at over 4% per annum until
2020. New markets such as leisure and recreational sailing, higher
disposable incomes, cheaper travel and internet access are powering this
growth.”
“The Executive through its Route Development Fund are improving direct
access from Europe and further a field is improving all the time and North
Ayrshire, positioned as it is between Glasgow and Prestwick airports, is
ideally located to benefit to benefit from increased marketing support” said
Mr Wilson.
“This is best done by replacing the Ayrshire Tourist Boards with an
integrated visit Scotland network which can deliver maximum return on the
£80m invested annually in tourism in Scotland.”
“North Ayrshire hosts a national resource worthy of improved national
marketing and visit Scotland are best placed to secure that added value for
our tourism industry. |
