MSP: UK tourists shun Scotland over independence referendum

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

EDINBURGH, Scotland – The independence referendum may be deterring tourists in the rest of the UK from visiting Scotland, a Labour MSP has claimed.

EDINBURGH, Scotland – The independence referendum may be deterring tourists in the rest of the UK from visiting Scotland, a Labour MSP has claimed.

A perceived lack of “goodwill” towards England, Wales and Northern Ireland may be behind a 22% drop in tourist visits to Scotland from the rest of the UK and a 10% drop in spending, Labour deputy finance spokeswoman Jenny Marra said.

Southern European countries experienced a similar cut in German tourism during the euro crisis, according to Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone.

But Ms Marra’s claims were dismissed as “wearisome, tedious scaremongering” and “quite extraordinary” by the SNP.

Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing hailed a 20% increase in overseas tourism, but said domestic travel can reduce “from time to time”.

Ms Marra said: “While the number of overseas visitors has increased by 20%, domestic tourism within the UK to Scotland has dropped by 22% and spending in that sector went down by 10% too.

“It is a well-known fact among tourism experts and a sensible assertion that when countries foster goodwill towards one another it will help boost tourism between those countries.

“I wonder if the Scottish Government’s position to break away from the rest of the UK, and the message that that sends out to the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland…”

Ms Marra was then cut off by jeers from the SNP and gave way to SNP MSP Annabel Ewing, who described her claims as “quite extraordinary”.

Ms Ewing said: “How does it work in this member’s mind that for some reason just because politically we are having a debate people do not want to come to Scotland?”

Fellow SNP member Dennis Robertson suggested the dip was down to “austerity and how people spend their money and nothing to do with goodwill”.

But Mr Johnstone said: “There are some very interesting figures that can be obtained on the number of German tourists who have visited southern Europe in the last two or three years at the height of the crisis over the euro.

“When there was a view in certain southern European countries that Germany was reeling in some of the loans and putting financial pressure on them, many Germans found it difficult to visit these countries because they believed that they were unwelcome.”

SNP MSP Christine Grahame said: “I thought this was a debate about Homecoming not about the wearisome, tedious scaremongering used by Jenny Marra.”

Mr Ewing said: “The number of overseas visitors to Scotland is forecast to rise faster than the UK average, with the recent independent Barclays study predicting spending to rise by 40% by 2017 contributing ยฃ2.5 billion to our economy.

“We also need to make sure that we recognise the value of not only our biggest market but also our oldest friends, England.

“The latest figures from 2013 show that residents from England took 10% more short breaks in Scotland than 2012, and that there was a 4% increase between 2012 and 2013 in residents in England taking longer holidays in Scotland.

“In 2013, the media giant CNN named Scotland as their top travel choice for 2014, a view endorsed by Lonely Planet and Wanderlust who identified Scotland as a top world tourist destination to visit in 2014.”

Ms Marra said: “My reading of the figures for October to December 2013 is that domestic visits have decreased over 22% on the same quarter the previous year.”

Mr Ewing said: “Well I think the most recent figures which have just been released do show a very positive figure for tourism, particularly for overseas visitors, and there has been from time to time reductions in domestic tourism and that has taken place on both sides of the border.”

Mr Ewing added: “I think it is reasonable to say that if you take one particular quarter then you are perhaps likely to get a less complete picture than if you measure things over a longer period.

“Whereas there has been a reduction in domestic tourists in Scotland, so there has been a counterpart reduction it would appear south of the border, broadly speaking taking everything into account.

“So I think to ascribe a political motivation to this is unfortunate, because there doesn’t seem to me to be any evidential basis to it.”

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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