Business leaders in the Highlands are sounding a cautious note of optimism for the local economy as they look ahead to 2022 – but warn that challenges still remain
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BUSINESS leaders in the Highlands are sounding a cautious note of optimism for the local economy as they look ahead to 2022 – but warn that challenges still remain.
While the hospitality and tourism industry has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, hopes are high that the area is well placed to bounce back.
Inverness economist Tony Mackay said the area had started to recover during most of 2021 and forecast 3.5 per cent growth for the Highland economy next year.
But he added: “There is the new complication of the Omicron virus, which will obviously adversely impact the tourism and hospitality industries over the next few months.”
Mr Mackay said the city benefited from the large public sector, including the Highland Council headquarters, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and NatureScot, which all received substantial financial assistance from the Scottish and UK governments during 2021.
But the work-from-home policy had impacted negatively on many Inverness shops and hospitality businesses, although it had benefited smaller towns such as Dingwall and Alness.
“I expect consumers to continue to be cautious over the next few months so the problems for some local businesses will unfortunately continue,” he said.
Jackie Cuddy, manager of the city’s Eastgate Shopping Centre, acknowledged the new coronavirus variant had caused a slight impact pre-Christmas.
“Our challenge is to ensure we can instil confidence in our customers to return to the malls,” she said.
“The vulnerability of retail is also going to be a challenge with online shopping growing and the possibility of more brands leaving the High Street and just maintaining a presence online.”
But she was optimistic that Eastgate’s “blue sky” approach would enable it to diversify to drive footfall and attract new tenants.
“Definitely leisure uses are where we will be looking to complement retail,” she said.
“If we can get through 2022 without any significant lockdowns, then we would hope to finally deliver a new eating experience in the old food court area.”
Donald Begg, managing director of family-owned Beggs Shoes, believed 2022 would be “really positive” for the area.
“We expect tourism to come back and with the continued success in vaccination, we hope to see customers return to stores with greater confidence in the coming year,” he said.
“A boost in tourism will be badly needed to help offset the return to historically-high business rates, which represents one of the greatest challenges to Inverness city centre going forward.”
He said exciting and positive developments, including hotels, apartments and the redevelopment of the Victorian Market, would help the city centre maintain its status as a top destination for visitors.
An upbeat Willie Cameron, of Loch Ness Marketing, said the area’s tourism industry needed to embrace its green credentials such as renewable energy and conscious travel.
“We have to cater for a public looking for a safe experience,with attention to care and detail, in an environment that provides a choice of adventure in comfortable surroundings with access to the best local food and drink with friendly welcoming self-distancing locals who can relay stories of the area and its DNA, and who encourage conscious travel to visitors and locals alike,” he said.
David Richardson, development manager in the Highlands and Islands for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said top of the list for 2022 hopes was an end to pandemic-related restrictions.
“Repeated FSB surveys tell us how worried many businesses are about the future which is bad both for business and their communities,” he said.
“However, we can all help by keeping our trade local.”
He added: “Difficult times often spur high-achievers with entrepreneurial spirit into setting up their own businesses, and it is in all our interests to help and support people of all ages to do just that.”
