Fund worth £3m to help promote Scottish tourist destinations

A fund worth £3m has been announced to help tourism organisations promote visitor destinations as they recover from the pandemic.

The Scottish Government says the destination and sector marketing fund will help tourism groups promote Scotland as a year-round destination to UK and Irish markets.

The fund opens for applications on June 1 and will be split into three tiers, focusing on city, regional and national tourism groups.

Tourism minister Ivan McKee said: “It’s been an incredibly difficult year for our tourism and hospitality sectors but, as we begin to reopen the economy and domestic travel resumes, this new fund will help to promote some of Scotland’s most scenic beauty spots to our closest markets.

“The fund stems from the work of the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce and demonstrates our commitment to getting the sector firmly back on its feet again – a commitment backed by £25m investment.

“Scotland is one of the world’s most iconic destinations and we must work together to deliver a sustainable recovery.”

The fund will be administered by VisitScotland.

The tourism body’s director of destination development, Riddell Graham, said: “By using the latest insights, groups across Scotland will develop and promote visitor experiences both sustainably and responsibly to help stimulate demand in the domestic market all year-round.

“VisitScotland is focused on the recovery of the industry, building a destination and visitor experience which allows tourism and events to flourish now and in the future.

“We’ll continue to work with, and support, businesses to ensure we rebuild this vital part of Scotland’s economy.”