Tourism

Sustainable tourism is one of seven growth industries, contributing over £4 billion to the Scottish economy every year. Landscapes, wildlife and outdoor activities are consistently given as the top reasons for visiting Scotland.

Nature and landscapes need to be managed with the needs of tourism in mind - so that visitors can easily find out where to go to enjoy nature, and so that sites are well managed to avoid damage and disturbance to wildlife.

• We provide information on where to enjoy nature and landscapes through publications, campaigns, our website and through our local offices and partnerships. Explore for a Day is a series of area leaflets geared to tourists, with suggested itineraries and information for visitors to enjoy the natural and cultural heritage. So far available in this series: Aberdeenshire , Mid Argyll , North Highlands  (Caithness/Sutherland) and Stirling and Trossachs. Printable A4 size versions of each leaflet are available from the "Related Links" menu on the right. This project is supported by LEADER.
• Our research on Valuing Nature Based Tourism    shows that tourist spending on nature based activities is worth nearly 40% of all tourism spending, equivalent to £1.4 billion per year
• We sponsor Sustainable Tourism for the Scottish Thistles Awards  recognising excellence and celebrating sustainable tourism champions
• We carried out research to identify sustainable tourism indicators as well as benchmarking Scotland's performance on sustainable tourism
• We promote our National Nature Reserves  as amazing places to visit and learn about Scotland's wildlife and landscapes. We are investing to help improve visitor facilities and provide state-of-the-art interpretation that is driven by visitor needs - such as at Knockan Crag
• Our role in delivering national tourism objectives is set out in a paper to our Board. In April 2010, the Board discussed what our focus should be in supporting nature based tourism.