Highland tourism organisations benefit from a share of £500,000 grants from VisitScotland Tourism Destination and Sector Support Fund
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Three organisations from the Inverness area were among 14 Highland tourism sector groups impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic to receive a share in a £500,000 support package from VisitScotland.
Visit Inverness Loch Ness, Inverness and District B&B Association and North Coast 500 were all lucky enough to get funding from VisitScotland’s Tourism Destination and Sector Support Fund.
Michael Golding, the chief executive of Visit Inverness Loch Ness, said they were awarded £15,000 and added: “The impact of coronavirus has been significant and created an unprecedented challenge to our tourism industry.
"The funding provided by the VisitScotland Tourism Destination and Sector Support Fund will allow for an immediate response to adapt our marketing strategy and focus on supporting the people and businesses of the tourism industry through this crisis.
“We are aiming to develop our appeal to visitors year round and strengthen the off peak season which will be critical to recovery. Primarily this will be delivered through a new development to the Visit Inverness Loch Ness website and supported by social media.
“Despite the challenging road ahead we all face there are signs that the Highlands is relatively well positioned on the path to recovery. Scottish residents were asked where they were planning to stay on their next overnight trip from October onward, 58 per cent selected the Highlands. We must focus on supporting businesses in the tourism sector which can lead a wider Highland recovery.”
Daniel Mackenzie-Winters, chairman of Inverness and District B&B Association, said: "With 16 B&Bs we are a small association which is entirely self-funding through membership fees so we welcome the grant of £640 from VisitScotland.
"This will help towards some of our marketing costs for this year. One of our main aims is to get people booking with us directly rather than going through the online travel agents which take such a huge commission from us.
"All the surveys are saying that self catering is going to be the preferred option for most people initially, so we need to get the message across to visitors that B&Bs will also be open and safe to visit.
"We will be putting in place all the Scottish government guidance on cleaning and safety so that our guests and our B&B owners are protected.
"It's likely that we won't be able to operate at full capacity for many months due to safety constraints, so there's a very long road ahead of us with continued financial uncertainty before anything will get back to the way things used to be.
"We are still urging the government to look at long-term support for tourism businesses which are the lifeblood of the Highland economy. We are looking forward to opening in July and welcoming tourists back into our homes once again."
Tom Campbell, executive chairman for North Coast 500 Ltd, said: “We’re delighted to have received this support at such a critical time. This will have a compound effect as it enables NC500 to help the North Coast 500 businesses through delivery of our marketing and communications plan.
“It is good to see that there is such a collaborative effort to help and assist businesses as we emerge from this health and social-economic crisis.”
A total of 81 membership organisations were successful in applying for the fund, which was launched by the national tourism organisation last month.
Other Highland organisations to benefit included: Assynt Development Trust; Cairngorms Business Partnership; Dornoch Area Community Interest Company; Golf Highland; Heart of Sutherland Tourism; Lochaber Chamber of Commerce; Road to the Isles Marketing Group; Skye Connect; Venture North Cooperative; Visit Wester Ross and Welcome Ullapool.
Those successful applicants across Scotland represent in excess of 10,000 tourism businesses and have been awarded grants to support their survival and ensure they are able to continue working with VisitScotland in the weeks and months ahead.
The one-off fund was created in response to the devastating impact of the pandemic on Scottish tourism and was open to all destination and sector groups that have a membership base made up of entirely, or predominantly, tourism businesses – a total of 98 applications were received requesting a total of £1.6 million.
The fund, which closed on May 22, was originally set at £400,000 but was increased to £500,000 due to the volume of requests.
Riddell Graham, director of industry and destination development at VisitScotland, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on the Scottish tourism industry and this funding package for destination organisations and sector groups will hopefully go some way towards supporting them through this challenging time.
“We are pleased to have been able to increase our original funding pot to enable us to provide some funding for all eligible applicants. Even then it is unsurprising that the number of applications has been in excess of what is available and as such difficult decisions have had to be taken.
“Recovery will require our collective efforts and this fund represents a great opportunity to enable a collaborative approach to meet the massive challenges set by the pandemic and ensure the best possible outcomes for the whole of the visitor economy.”
Tourism secretary Fergus Ewing said: “The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for Scotland’s tourism sector. Throughout, I have been engaging with businesses and listening to concerns to explore how we can best help them navigate this unprecedented crisis.
“We have a long way to go but this funding package will be a welcome boost for destination management organisations and sector groups. It will enable them to keep working with VisitScotland, tourism businesses and local communities to build a strong and safe recovery, welcoming visitors again in phase three of the route map.”
