How 2014 Games sparked lucrative run for tourism

SCOTLAND saw a peak in overseas visitors and spending when the Commonwealth Games came to Glasgow, new figures show.

Visitors from outside the UK spent £151million more in 2014 than they did last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The total overseas tourist spend for 2015 was £1.695million, compared with a peak of £1.846million in 2014.

That year saw the Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup tournament at Gleneagles, Perthshire, and the Scottish Homecoming, which all helped to create a spike in visitor numbers. However, by 2015 the volume of overseas visitors travelling to Scotland fell by 4 per cent, from 2.7million to 2.592million.

A spokesman for VisitScotland said: ‘Scotland welcomed the world in 2014, with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Year of Homecoming and the MTV awards capturing the attention of millions of people around the world.

‘This unprecedented year had a big impact on our overseas market, with a distinct spike in international visitor numbers.’ The Commonwealth Games cost the public purse £424.5million, with the overall spend totalling £543million.

Meanwhile, VisitScotland had a core budget of £5.5million for Homecoming Scotland 2014, of which £1.75million was allocated to a dedicated marketing campaign.

The Tories last night expressed concerns that the major events of 2014 had not apparently had a lasting impact on tourism in Scotland.

Scottish Conservative culture spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: ‘There is no doubt that the Commonwealth Games and the Year of Homecoming provided a platform for a spike in visitor numbers, but it is disappointing that the momentum seems to be tailing off. Although it would be expected that there would be a drop in visitors after these largescale events, it is worrying that they seem not to have left a lasting tourism legacy – particularly with the costs involved to the taxpayer in staging these events.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘When comparing 2013 and 2015, the number of overseas visits increased by 7 per cent and total visitor spend increased by 9 per cent, showing that Scottish tourism has capitalised on the success of 2014 with continued growth overall.’