Handbrake on agritourism sector growth
POLICY red tape is ‘strangling’ growth and recovery in Scotland’s agritourism sector, undermining the government’s own ‘Growth Strategy’ for the sector and making the move into diversification for some, unviable.
Despite Scottish Government committing to doubling Scotland’s agritourism offering by 2030, a series of policy developments, proposals and pending changes have been criticised by many in the sector as an attack on rural businesses.
Plans to introduce Short Term Lets Licensing, due to come into force in October this year, will require every single type of accommodation, from a farm cottage to a shepherd’s hut, to apply for a license. Critics have accused the approach as a broad-brush policy, initially aimed at tackling an Edinburgh issue, which will unfairly impact rural Scotland.
There are concerns it adds unnecessary paperwork and additional ongoing costs for businesses, but individual licensing fees will vary across local authority areas, leaving it down to a ‘post-code lottery’.
Problems around planning permission have been an ongoing issue in Scotland for many years and are stifling opportunities to diversify farming incomes and deterring new entrants from exploring new income streams, point out critics.
There is inconsistency between local authorities around what types of agritourism are being granted planning permission and due to poor staffing levels in councils, applications are taking months, if not years to be granted, if at all. The new National Planning Framework 4 legislation has just been passed, which could further discriminate against agritourism businesses who will now have to demonstrate that their accommodation proposals don’t impede rural housing needs.
Another policy coming down the track is the Deposit Return Scheme, which will go live in August, 2023, and will add 20p on to the purchase of single-use drinks containers, with the deposit paid back on return of the item.
The new legislation will mean retailers will have to operate a general return point for scheme containers. Retailers, such as farm shops, have criticised the significant time and admin costs this will add to their businesses, re-allocating personnel and space to store bottles and packaging.
In September, the Scottish Government announced that it will be bringing forward legislation to give local authorities the power to introduce a tourist levy/tax. A Local Visitor Levy Bill is expected to come before the Scottish Parliament this spring, with charges to be enforced as early as 2026.
This will mean that everyone staying in accommodation in Scotland will have to be charged a local tourist tax, which in theory would be spent by local authorities on improving tourism services. Opponents argue that Scotland is already expensive to visit and could turn away visitors and there are suspicions that levies won’t be ringfenced or used efficiently.
According to the World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, the UK was ranked 140th out of 140 countries for tourism price competitiveness in 2019.
A consultation seeking views on restrictions to alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland is open until March 9 and has been widely criticised for its potential to put Scottish distillers out of business.
If plans were to go ahead, it would make it increasingly difficult to advertise alcohol and would ban branded items or merchandise, when visiting distilleries. This could come as a severe blow to farmers who have started making alcohol in recent years.
The Scottish Farmer spoke with five agritourism businesses across the country, to hear how these changes and proposals could impact on their business and on the growth of the sector more widely.