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Review of Scotland's Cities - The Analysis

5.2.5 Future Challenges: Providing Strategic Focus

Looking ahead, Scotland needs to sustain a world class reputation and status, with benefits for local communities, for visitor numbers and for the overall image of Scotland as a vibrant contributor to world culture and a 'must see' destination. This involves improving the cultural product and increasing awareness of it, in the face of ever greater international competition, in particular to:

• develop and maintain existing facilities and events to an international standard in line with the ever more demanding expectations of visitors and residents;
• improve the choice and range of visitor attractions, cultural facilities and tourism infrastructure and exploit linkages/synergy between them;
• raise awareness of Scotland's artistic and cultural legacy and contemporary activity and stimulate interest in visiting Scotland by general and targeted marketing at home and abroad.

The Scottish Executive and other funders are taking a number of initiatives to begin addressing investment needs and opportunities:

• substantial Lottery Fund awards to the Kelvingrove Gallery/Museum and the Mitchell Library in Glasgow;
• investment of over 33 million of Lottery and Exchequer funding to assist the redevelopment of Hampden Stadium;
• one-off Scottish Executive funding of 3 million in 2001/02 to the Glasgow museums;
• investment in the Playfair development to create a world class exhibition space from the RSA building in Edinburgh;
• Scottish Executive funding of the Scottish Museums Council 1.5 million grant scheme for strategic change in Scotland's over 300 non-national museums;
• the provision of additional revenue support from the Scottish Arts Council (890,000 in 2002/03) and the Scottish Executive (400,000 between 2002 and 2004) for the Edinburgh International Festival.

There is arguably now a need to develop a strategic perspective on investment and development of the major national assets whether owned/funded nationally, by Local Authorities or independently (including key festivals/events, art galleries, museums, libraries and other collections), bringing together the various funding bodies, identifying priority collections and activities with the potential to bring benefits to Scotland over the short, medium and longer term; planning a programme for developing and exploiting these; identifying the level of investment required; and integrating these plans with wider cultural, development and tourism strategies.

A key building block in arriving at this greater strategic focus will be the Major Events Strategy for Scotland, which Scottish Ministers are committed to developing. Successful events boost visitor numbers and spending, as well as raising Scotland's international profile. Scotland already hosts a number of successful events, others are being established (e.g. Burns Festival in Ayrshire, Festival of the Sea 2003) or being bid for (e.g. Euro 2008). But current practice lacks coherence. A Major Events Strategy is therefore being established to attract and develop major events. The strategy will help improve co-ordination, encourage the sharing of best practice and develop a portfolio of targeted events to underpin Scottish tourism and brand messages.

Ensuring greater strategic focus cannot be the responsibility of one single body. The Major Events Strategy is being developed by a Steering Group involving Glasgow and Edinburgh Local Authorities, the Enterprise Networks, CoSLA, VisitScotland, sportscotland and the Scottish Arts Council. Cross-institutional working will increasingly become the norm. Scotland could benefit from harnessing the collections and experience of both public and independent sectors. The Scottish Executive, Local Authorities, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise, Scotland the Brand, Universities (e.g. Hunterian Museum), National Trust for Scotland and independent collections all have contributions to make.

Increased emphasis needs to be given to aligning funding strategies - and decisions - building more effective links between the long-term aspirations and strategies of the Executive, Local Authorities, and other partners.

Much is already happening at the level of the different stakeholders:

• VisitScotland is developing a more focused approach to cultural tourism in Scotland;
• The City of Edinburgh Council is developing a wider Festival Strategy, both to promote existing strategies and introduce additional events at other times of the year;
• The relevant Scottish distributors (Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen), and the relevant UK distributor active in Scotland (the Heritage Lottery Fund) have all developed strategies to reflect Scottish circumstances;
• A number of Local Authorities and their local partners are developing shared visions, objectives, and implementation strategies for their cultural sectors in the context of Community Planning. See the example of Aberdeen below.

• Inverness' bid for designation as Capital of Culture 2008, albeit unsuccessful, illustrates how local and national partners working together can visualise a step-change in a city's cultural offering - see Box.

An active strategy for exploiting Scotland's museum and visual arts sector, linked to wider promotional activities, can contribute to attracting inward tourism, help attract conference business and promote inward investment by improving and communicating the quality of life of an individual city and Scotland as a whole.

Used effectively Scotland's museum and gallery and wider cultural/heritage resources could strengthen the nation's national and international profile.

Quality touring exhibitions can raise Scotland's profile, conveying the image of a cultural nation with a high quality of life. In recent years, Glasgow Museums (in partnership with Glasgow School of Art and the Hunterian Art Gallery) have taken Mackintosh to the United States and to Japan; the National Galleries of Scotland have toured an exhibition in the US, and their major exhibitions are regularly seen in London; Aberdeen Galleries have toured Japan; and Glasgow Museums are planning a tour of Impressionist Painting in North America. These have been one-off projects. But the experience of Glasgow's Mackintosh exhibition in America has shown that touring high-quality material can raise a city's and Scotland's profile, and more particularly can be exploited by tourism and inward investment agencies for awareness marketing. Temporary exhibitions within Scotland can also provide marketing opportunities, particularly in the UK market.

Whether for residents or tourists there may be a case for the Executive to take a lead in developing a more positive view of city possibilities and of convincing many Scots, many of them more interested in popular culture, that this effort is important. The next section makes some of that argument by emphasising the growing significance of city tourism.

5.3 CITY TOURISM

Every year, Scotland's five cities welcome nearly 10 million visitors. As centres for art and culture, shopping, sport, leisure and a multitude of events and festivals, the cities have a key role in attracting visitors to Scotland. Additionally, as the main centres for industry, business services, commerce and education they also attract a disproportionate share of business travellers and conference attendees.

Inward tourism grew during the 1990's, with overseas tourism reaching a peak in 1998 and domestic tourism in 2000 - see Table 5.9 below. Overseas tourism began to decline in 1999, notwithstanding continued growth in world tourism levels. 2001 proved a difficult year for both overseas and domestic tourism with the twin shocks of Foot & Mouth and September 11th. In this difficult climate, Edinburgh and Glasgow have actually fared better than the rest of the Scottish tourism sector: both have increased their share of tourism spend between 1995 and 2001, substantially so in the domestic market.

TABLE 5.9: Expenditure by Overseas/Domestic Visitors 1995-2001

Source: VisitScotland
* Survey method changed in 2000. Pre-2000 figures have been recalculated, but possible discontinuity in the data series remains

There are a number of possible explanations for the better performance of cities. The growing importance of short breaks and in particular city breaks, which is associated with higher spending; the increase in households without children; and the growth in cultural tourism are all possible factors.

It is clear though that cities are making an increasingly important contribution to Scottish tourism and to the Scottish economy. The traditional tourism sales images for Scotland, of wild landscapes, remote lochs and imposing castles, now co-exist alongside a growing reputation for cosmopolitan and dynamic city centres boasting impressive cultural offerings, fine architecture, vibrant night life, designer retail outlets and quality restaurants.

The cities, particularly Edinburgh and Glasgow, are both magnets in their own right and gateways to the rest of Scotland. Virtually all of Scotland's overseas visitors will visit at least one of the cities, most notably Edinburgh. In total, the five cities account for nearly half of the trips made in Scotland and 40% of all overnight stays. These contribute around 2 billion to the Scottish economy every year - a figure that amounts to almost half of the total spent by tourists in Scotland, or 2.5% of Scotland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

City tourism also has a vital role in attracting visitors throughout the year. The main tourist destinations of Edinburgh and Glasgow tend to attract tourists more evenly throughout the year than Scotland in general. Unsurprisingly, Inverness is the most seasonal of the cities. The range of attractions and activities available in the cities has also meant the cities are better placed to withstand detrimental events, such as rainy summers or Foot & Mouth Disease. Although overall tourist spend fell in Highland region, for example, from 693 million in 2000 to 553 million in 2001, in Edinburgh, it only fell 5 million to 872 million.

Yet if our cities are vital to Scottish tourism, visitors are also important to the cities themselves. They contribute to a variety of economic sectors - through direct employment in tourist related industries (35% of Scottish tourism related employment is in the 4 main cities, see Chapter 3); and by augmenting demand in sectors as diverse as retailing and construction to local food production and creative industries. They also generate demand for infrastructure, from shops to concert halls, and may help maintain the viability of marginal services, such as low demand air routes. Their demand promotes diversity, enhancing the city to the benefit of both tourists and residents. Providing employment, generating wealth and creating city 'buzz', tourists enhance the vibrancy of the cities, and potentially contribute to their reputation and image throughout the world.

The relative importance and the nature of the tourist industry varies significantly between the cities - see Chart 5.2.

Edinburgh is the second most popular city in the UK for overseas visitors (only surpassed by London), whilst Glasgow, at fifth in the UK ranking, is the next most popular Scottish destination - see Table 5.10 below.

TABLE 5.10: UK Cities: Popularity Ranking amongst Overseas Visitors (2000)

It is Edinburgh's success in the overseas visitor market that makes it the most important Scottish visitor destination in terms of both overnight stays and spend. By contrast, visit and spend by UK residents are similar for Glasgow and Edinburgh - see Chart 5.3 below.

The popularity of the two cities is based on the sheer breadth of attractions. Edinburgh Castle is consistently the most popular paying tourist attraction in Scotland, but both cities boast a variety of concert halls, theatres, museums and art galleries. Additionally, festivals and events, such as "T in the Park" in Glasgow and the Edinburgh International Festival, are held throughout the year. Glasgow's better performance in the domestic market, possibly reflects greater awareness of the Glasgow offering by UK visitors and the pull of Glasgow's shopping facilities.

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh unsurprisingly have a strong business tourism base. Edinburgh is 14th in the ICCA League of World Conference Destinations.

The relatively small city of Inverness attracts just over a million visitors per year, reflecting the role of the city as a gateway to the Highlands in general and Loch Ness in particular. Visitors to Inverness are more likely to stay over-night than visitors to the other Scottish cities, generating higher spend per visitor than the Scottish average. Tourism is extremely important to the local economy, a fact illustrated by the percentage of people employed in tourist related jobs; reflecting in part the weakness of other business sectors - see Chart 5.4 below. Inverness has a greater proportion of its workforce employed in tourism than any other Scottish city, though in absolute terms Glasgow has the largest number of tourism-related workers.

Given the importance of tourism to the Inverness economy, it is vital that the city capitalises on its advantages to consolidate and grow visitor numbers. Its city status in itself represents a significant opportunity, raising the profile of the city and enabling it to be marketed along with the other Scottish cities by VisitScotland. In 2002, the Area Tourist Board, together with other public sector partners, initiated a marketing campaign to launch Inverness as a City Break destination. The main challenges for Inverness are that although its amenities such as shops, restaurants and hotels attract visitors en-route to major attractions located close-by, such as Loch Ness and Culloden, there is a lack of things to do within the city itself and the quality of the city centre environment is relatively mixed, although for its size it does support a varied programme at the Eden Court and in traditional music. It is also relatively inaccessible and, compared to its competitors lacks amenities, such as 4 star hotels. The city's bid for European Capital of Culture has provided a focus and catalyst for thinking about the city's future - the challenge will be delivering the resulting vision.

In relative terms, tourism is much less important to Aberdeen and Dundee. Very few overseas tourists visit either city whilst the total amount spent by all tourists is less in these cities than the income generated by much smaller Inverness (Chart 5.3). Aberdeen and Dundee have the lowest proportions of visitors who are on holiday of all the Scottish cities. Both cities lack 'must see' attractions that would lever in holiday makers and neither is perceived as a resort destination. Both also suffer, to varying degrees, problems of peripherality. Aberdeen, however, like Edinburgh and Glasgow, does unsurprisingly benefit from a relatively high number of business travellers because of the oil industry.

Cities provide a unique product, where the size of the centre and the scale of the local population underpins a high quality tourist product. Given the contribution that cities make to Scotland's tourist business, there is a need both to market the cities, and to ensure the benefits are collectively shared by other cities and the rest of Scotland.

Arguably, given the proximity of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the poorer performance of Glasgow in attracting overseas visitors, there is an argument for more pro-active overseas marketing and/or greater co-operation between the two Area Tourist Boards. Significantly, the Edinburgh web site makes no mention of Glasgow, and vice versa.

It is to be hoped that such difficulties will be addressed in part by VisitScotland's new marketing strategy, which will move away from distinct geographical areas to marketing based around themes. "Cities" has been identified as one theme and is in the process of being developed. It will include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen. Cities are also included in other themes, such as "Romantic Scotland".

This also underlines the importance of sustaining and enhancing what the cities offer to visitors, in terms of 'must see' visitor attractions, the quality, safety and friendliness of the public spaces, the quality of the service and the friendliness of the people. New ways of making better information available to visitors have to be examined.

It is important to remember that the same factors that appeal to tourists also often appeal to residents. A place that is competitive in the global tourism market, is also likely to be competitive in the market for inward investment, talent and wider reputation.

5.4 NURTURING THE LIVELY CITY

This chapter has emphasised that there are opportunities to increase both funding for and the effectiveness of public realm projects in the cities, that retailing quality and variety is growing, that clear forward strategies are required for the city centres and that a hard look has to be taken at both the wider impacts of and funding arrangements for arts and culture in the city. Tourist numbers show how cities that are well served in these respects can attract interest and economic activity. And of course the ease of getting to Scotland and moving between and within the cities also matters to residents, commuters and tourists. Transport issues are the concern of the next chapter.

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