Innovation Insights (VisitScotland)

Understanding developing consumer trends is increasingly important during the recovery of tourism following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

VisitScotland's Innovation Insight papers explore new and evolving trends and consumer expectations developing in tourism today, from consumer demand and business innovations around the world.

Future Thinking

VisitScotland continually evaluate the consumer environment looking for new directions the tourism industry may end up taking.

To help our Scottish tourism providers prepare for the future, VisitScotland identify changes in consumer behaviour, technology and our environment. Their 'Futures' papers fast-forward our thinking to consider the long-term trajectory of tourism around the world and in Scotland.

Scottish Enterprise

Megatrends impacting Scottish tourism to 2025: opportunities for Scotland

This report analyses the future of the Scottish tourism industry from a global perspective, in order to provide a robust evidence base to support strategic decision-making by Scottish Enterprise (SE), partners and industry in the medium- to long-term. It looks at current tourism infrastructure, the industry’s potential and the challenges it faces. It identifies the most pertinent ‘megatrends’ (long-term changes in behaviours or attitudes with global impacts across multiple industries).

ASVA - 2021 Visitor Attraction Figures

Outdoor trumps indoor as pandemic devastates Scotland’s visitor attractions

• Latest data reveals an overall drop of over 47% on pre-pandemic figures
• Slump in international visitors expected to last until 2025
• Domestic market vital for the survival of Scotland’s leading attractions

Outdoor visitor attractions fared much better than museums and indoor sites last year, as COVID-19 continued to devastate Scotland’s visitor attractions sector.

New figures, published today by ASVA, the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions, in conjunction with Glasgow Caledonian University’s Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Development, reveal overall visitor numbers were more than 47% down on pre-pandemic levels.

Last year’s most visited paid-entry attraction was Edinburgh Zoo, with 632,122 visitors, whilst the National Museum of Scotland was once again the year’s top free attraction, with 660,741 visitors. This represented a drop in visitors of more than 1.5 million compared to 2019 figures, illustrating that 2021 was a very challenging year for this iconic venue, as it was for virtually all indoor attractions.