New tourism chief ’s vow over future growth
Edinburgh’s new tourism figurehead has admitted that the industry needs to “win the hearts and minds” of its residents and that its future growth will need to be more carefully managed in future.
Donald Emslie, chair of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group, said there would be new focus on filling hotel rooms outwith peak periods, spreading visitors around the city more and creating new “experiences” for visitors under a blueprint for the next decade.
Mr Emslie, a former chief executive of STV, signalled a new shift for the sector, which supports around 30,000 jobs, away from a constant focus on growth. In an exclusive interview, Mr Emslie said there would be a change in “tone” in a new strategy for the industry, which is about to go out for public consultation.
He also admitted that the industry had to address “antitourism” sentiments among some residents and ensure that the benefits of the industry were distributed better.
A key focus of the 10-year plan would be ensuring Edinburgh remained a world-leading cultural designation. But he also said he did not think there was a need for the city to host any more major festivals or events given the existing year-round calendar.
Mr Emslie was unveiled last weekasthenewchairofetag, to succeed Robin Worsnop, the founder of award-winning tour company Rabbie’s, who had overseen an increase in visitor numbers soar of more than half a million in the past five years to 3.85 million, with one in three of them travelling fromoverseas. Visitorspending in the city has also soared over the same period, from £1.01 billion to £1.32bn.
However there have been growing concerns from heritage bodies about the impact of “over-tourism” in certain areas, particularly in the Old and New Towns.
New safety measures were introduced in the city centre this summer in the wake of a dossier warning of increasing problems with “bottlenecks” and a lack of pavement and road space.
An official report, commissioned by ETAG and published this summer, said action was needed to help ease the impact of the industry’s “growing pains” amid warnings of the risk of a “backlash” from residents.
Mr Emslie said: “The previous tourism strategy for the city was very much focused on growth and was very numberorientated. People will see that there will be a change in tone in the new strategy. It will recognise the current challenges and that the industry realises there has to be some form of change. It will be more about managing growth in future, rather than just delivering it.
“In common with just about every other city in Europe, tourism is growing in Edinburgh.
It needs to be managed across the year and spread out across the city and not only centred on a few areas.
“There is a job to be done at the moment to win the hearts and minds of people in the city. Edinburgh is world-renowned for its history and culture. People have it on their map as somewhere to come and see. We have a responsibility to manage that, but we also have a responsibility to articulate the benefits of that. We have to begin to ask questions and provide answers on how the city benefits from tourism.”