Roseanna: Tourism week is aimed at MSPs

Mar 6 2009 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

IT sometimes seems as though there is a special day or week for just about everything these days, and there is always the danger that a sort of boredom can set in.

February, for example, gave us National Bramley Apple Week and National Chip Week, while later this month we can anticipate the delights of Bacon Connoisseurs Week and you may not be aware that the whole of the month of March is apparently National Bed Month.

I like apples, chips and bacon as much as the next person – though perhaps not on the same plate – but I am not sure that I would devote a whole week to them. The prospect of devoting an entire month to my bed has its attractions, but I don't think that my the diary organisers who seem to be able to instantly fill any spare minute that appears in my schedule could cope with that!

That doesn't mean, however, that there isn’t an important role to be played by these dedicated weeks.

This week, for example, has been Scottish Tourism Week. It may very well have passed you by and, surprisingly, unless you are involved in the tourism industry, that's OK. Because Scottish Tourism Week is not an advertising campaign or a consumer event, it is a series of events for those involved in the tourism industry which also aims to encourage politicians to better understand the main issues facing tourism businesses.

I have been checking out some of what Perthshire has to offer with a visit to Innerpeffray Library on Saturday and on Sunday a round trip walk from Crieff to Glenturret Distillery, home to the award winning Famous Grouse Experience.

Another award winning Perthshire tourist facility is the Horsecross where they have just embarked on a three month celebration of Scotland’s vibrant cultural connections with Poland. Polish Spring should certainly be interesting for Scots and for our Polish friends who are working here. And maybe they'll persuade their friends and family at home that Scotland is a good place for a holiday as well as to work!

Figures from VisitScotland show that tourism brought nearly £200 million into the Perthshire economy in 2007 and almost 14 % of the workforce is employed in tourism compared to the national figure of just over 9%. Other means of assessing tourist spending suggest a figure of more than double that at £416 million.

So tourism is a big deal for Perthshire and with this being the Year of Homecoming the Scottish Government is making a concerted effort to significantly increase the number of tourist visitors to our beautiful and exciting country.

It isn't just about getting visitors to come from abroad, of course, an exceptional tourism product is of benefit to domestic visitors and locals too. How often do we overlook some of the great facilities we have right here on our own doorstep?

Let's all get out and enjoy the wonderful opportunities that Perthshire has to offer.