Ten innovative responsible tourism projects launched as part of £25 million Scottish Tourism Recovery Programme

Ten innovative responsible tourism projects across the country have been made possible as part of the Scottish government’s £25 million tourism recovery programme to support the sector’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The projects, which collectively received over £500k in funding, were revealed by Scottish Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

Successful initiatives include the development of a digital sales tool which allows visitors to ‘pay it forward’, Scotland’s first portal for booking agri-tourism farm experiences across Scotland, an interactive food to fork map in Dumfries and Galloway, a visitor management tool to facilitate safe and sustainable tourism on the Isle of Skye and the creation of a community calculator measuring business impacts.

Developed by the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group (STERG) in collaboration with members of the Tourism Task Force, the Tourism Leadership & Recovery Fund is part of the Scottish Tourism Leadership Programme. It was available to individuals from businesses or organisations who previously participated in Scotland’s flagship leadership programmes – Destination Leaders Programme (DLP), Communities Leading in Tourism (CLT) and Rural Leadership Programme (RLP).

With the grants ranging from £20,000 to £70,000, the fund is designed to support the recovery of tourism and hospitality in Scotland by driving forward innovation in the tourism sector through collaboration.

The businesses and community groups receiving the awards include: the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Rural Dimensions, Mercat Tours, Scottish Agritourism, Travel Tech for Scotland, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South of Scotland Destination Alliance, Eat South West Scotland, Argyll and Isles Tourism Cooperative and SkyeConnect CIC.

Elaine Morrison, Interim Head of Place at Scottish Enterprise said: “Tourism is a key sector for Scotland’s economy and, while the past couple of years have been extremely challenging, the innovation we see in these projects is evidence that the recovery of the industry is in good hands. “Our flagship leadership programmes have been vital in bringing these projects forward and it has been a real lifeline to the sector in this financial year that we’ve been able to offer many of these for free to the tourism industry through the Scottish Government’s £25million tourism recovery programme.”