Perth & Kinross Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2025-2030
Perth and Kinross Council · 28 May 2025
Back to Economy and Infrastructure Committee — 28 May 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality ___________________________________________________________________ Committee or Board: Economy and Infrastructure Committee Date of Meeting: 28 May 2025 Report Title: Perth and Kinross Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2025 - 2030 Report Number: 25/129 Report Author: Suzanne Cumiskey, Economic Development Officer Organisational Lead: Serge Merone, Strategic Lead – Economy, Development and Planning ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to seek Council endorsement of the Perth and Kinross Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2025 - 2030. 1.2 Sections 1. Purpose 2. Recommendations 3. Background 4. Main Issues 5. Conclusions 6. Impact and Value Assessment 7. Appendices 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Economy and Infrastructure Committee: 2.1 Endorse the draft Perth and Kinross Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2025 – 2030 developed by Perthshire Tourism Partnership (PTP). 2.2 Request that officers bring back annual progress reports to this Committee for consideration.
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3. Background Historic Information/Context 3.1 With a population of 151,000 residents and a geography spanning 2000sq miles Perth & Kinross consistently ranks among the UK’s top places to live and work and in 2024 was accredited as the ‘Most Welcoming Place on Earth’ at the Booking.com Traveller Review Awards. 3.2 Central to the destination is the River Tay which at 120 miles long is Scotland’s longest river and acts as a playground for outdoor enthusiasts for paddling, kayaking, canoeing and fishing. The River Tay Way, a new walking & cycling route running from Loch Tay to Perth City Centre offers walkers and cyclists an off-road route in spectacular surroundings. 3.3 Perthshire is named ‘Big Tree Country’ due to the great seed collector David Douglas who travelled the world in the 1800s finding new tree species to introduce to Scotland, including his namesake, the Douglas Fir which can be found in abundance at The Hermitage. Home to 28 of Scotland’s 282 Munros, the area is a first choice for Munro bagging aficionados and outdoor adventurers. 3.4 Perth was designated a UNESCO City of Craft and Folk Art in 2021 which embeds craft into sustainable development and policy making. In the last decade Perth & Kinross Council has invested £50m + in cultural and heritage infrastructure in Perth City Centre and £4.5m in funding for culture annually. Our creative places and spaces include Perth’s Creative Exchange, Perth Art Gallery, Perth Museum, Perth Theatre & Concert Hall, St Paul’s Church space, the City of Light Programme and our Vennels Project. The latest investment is Perth Museum, a brand new £26.5 million refurbishment of a beautiful historic building in Perth City Centre. Featuring a purpose-built interior designed to house the Stone of Destiny, which is the most powerful surviving symbol of Scotland’s royal history. In its first year Perth Museum has attracted 250,000 visitors. 3.5 Perthshire is home to two Michelin Star awarded destination restaurants, ‘Restaurant Andrew Fairlie’ at Gleneagles and ‘The Glenturret Lalique; and award-winning restaurants such as the Old Manse of Blair and Orangery Restaurant; and Ballintaggart Farm. The area has a strong whisky heritage and is home to Dewars Aberfeldy Distillery, Glenturret Distillery, Blair Atholl Distillery and Edradour Distillery. In 2022 there were 915 food and drink businesses with a reported turnover of £472 million. Perthshire also has strong diversification of farms with 71 agritourism businesses. 3.6 Perthshire Tourism Partnership was established in 2005 to bring together the tourism industry with public sector organisations to discuss strategic themes and policies relating to tourism in the region with the aim of growing the visitor economy. The partnership members include: • Blairgowrie and East Perthshire Tourism Association • Cairngorms Business Partnership
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• Cairngorms National Park Authority • Culture Perth & Kinross • Dunkeld and Birnam Tourism Association • Glenshee and Strathardle Tourism Association • Historic Environment Scotland • Kinross Partnership • Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park • National Trust for Scotland • Perth & Kinross Council • Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust • Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust • Perth Theatre and Concert Hall • Perth Traders Association • Perthshire Business Tourism Group • Perthshire Chamber of Commerce • Perthshire Regional Food Group • Perthshire Tourism Partnership • Pitlochry Partnership • Rannoch and Tummel Tourist Association • Scottish Agritourism • Visit Aberfeldy • VisitScotland 3.7 The partnerships work includes: • Delivery of the Perthshire Tourism Action Plan 2021-2025 • Organising industry B2B events, webinars and training • Facilitating industry connections • Facilitating business support and advice • Providing up-to-date information and minutes 4. Main Issues The Strategy and Action Plan 4.1 Perthshire Tourism Action Plan 2021 - 2025 was developed and published in 2021 following extensive consultation with the Tourism Leadership Group and wider industry. The plan was initially developed with a focus on tourism industry recovery following the pandemic and identified priorities and actions for all stakeholders (the tourism industry, tourism associations, public sector agencies, and the local authority). 4.2 The plan centred on sustainable and responsible growth of the sector, ensuring that it continued to make a significant contribution to the economy and vibrancy of the area, acting as a force for good. 4.3 In 2023 a mid-term review of the Perthshire Tourism Action Plan 2021 - 2025 was undertaken. In 2023 tourism monitoring figures demonstrated that the tourism sector contributed to:
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• 670 tourism businesses in the area with tourism/hospitality being the highest employer • 8200 full-time equivalent jobs are supported locally • 2.3 million tourism visits to Perth and Kinross in 2023 • 2.8 nights was the average length of stay • £703 million was generated directly and indirectly within the local economy through visitor and tourism business expenditure • £641 million was the total economic impact • Economic Impact +8.8% 2023 v 2022 • Visitor Numbers +15.4% 2023 v 2022 • Total Visitor Days and Nights +1.5% 2023 v 2022 4.4 In 2024, work began on the development of a refreshed plan for the area. It was agreed that a 5-year timeline would be used, which would align with the timeframe of the Perth and Kinross Economic Action Plan (2025-2030) and enable a medium-term strategic framework to be established. The framework builds on pillars under which actions have been developed, whilst still allowing for the potential launch and impact of a visitor levy scheme to be assessed. 4.5 The new tourism strategy and action plan draws on national, regional, and local strategies to shape and develop the Perth and Kinross Tourism Strategy & Action Plan 2025 – 2030 including: • Scotland Outlook 2030 • Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation 2022 - 2032 • Tay Cities Region Prospectus for Regional Growth 2025 - 2035 • Tay Cities Region Economic Regional Strategy 2019 - 2039 • Tay Cities Region Tourism Development Prospectus 2025 - 2035 • Perth and Kinross Economic Action Plan 2025 – 2030 4.6 Key themes within all the national, regional and local strategies are developing a stronger more resilient economy: maintaining a focus on reducing inequalities and transitioning to net zero Scotland by 2045. 4.7 The strategy is being developed with these principles as key considerations and against a backdrop of the newly introduced Visitor Levy legislation and with an ambition to attract both public and private sector investment. Strategic Framework 4.8 There are four pillars intended to guide the actions under the strategy: • Area Promotion and Destination Marketing • Investment and Infrastructure (Placemaking/Visitor Infrastructure/Services) • Market Development & Internationalisation • Industry Growth and Resilience
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4.9 Area Promotion and Destination Marketing Objective: Aim to drive up visitation to our area from identified audiences, increasing day visitors, as well as the length of stay and visitor spend.  4.10 Investment and Infrastructure Objective: Aim to attract inward investment to enhance the visitor experience in the destination, as well as manage the impact on our communities 4.11 Market Development and Internationalisation Objective: Aim to build on key assets, developing new tourism products and visitor experiences 4.12 Industry Growth and Resilience Objective. Aim to develop a sustainable visitor economy through supporting businesses to grow, increase levels of well-paid jobs and build their resilience in a challenging operating environment Monitoring and Impact 4.13 Perth and Kinross Council have been using STEAM data, produced by Global Tourism Solutions, and trend data is available for the past twelve years. 4.14 STEAM figures for 2023 show that there is recovery in visitor numbers and days and nights spent with a commensurate increase in economic impact. This strategy aims to ensure that recovery continues, and that the visitor economy grows, playing an important role in the future economy of Perth and Kinross. 4.15 The indicators below are what we will use for tourism performance monitoring and are derived from STEAM data: • Number of businesses • Total employment • Total number of visitors • Number of overnight visitors • Number of day visitors • Number of visitor days • Direct expenditure • Economic impact of sector 4.16 The Perth and Kinross Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2025 - 2030 will be delivered by the PTP, supported by individual organisations and co-ordinated by Perth and Kinross Council. Delivery will be overseen by an industry leadership group, drawn from various parts of the sector. Meetings will be held quarterly to monitor progress. 4.17 A delivery report will be published on an annual basis and the group will review the action plan annually to ensure alignment to national, regional, and local strategies and progress against agreed actions.
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The Visitor Levy 4.18 The Visitor Levy Act gives local authorities in Scotland the power to introduce a levy on overnight accommodation based on a percentage of the cost. Local authorities have the power to determine the percentage rate set, the geographical area where it applies and any local exemptions. The authority can also specify a maximum number of nights to apply the levy and whether it applies to all or part(s) of its area. 4.19 Local authorities that want to introduce a visitor levy are only able to do so after they have consulted with local communities, businesses, and the wider tourism sector - through early engagement and a formal consultation. 4.20 In total these processes would take just over 2 years to conclude if the minimum timescales were applied. For the area, this means that the earliest date a scheme could come into effect would be late autumn 2027. The Council has commenced early-stage engagement on the potential of a levy, as agreed by this Committee on 5 February 2025 (Report ref. 25/28). 4.21 The potential of a levy is considered as part of this Tourism Strategy and Action Plan, as well as other potential sources of investment. 5. Conclusions 5.1 Tourism continues to be a key economic growth sector for Perth and Kinross. However, we also recognise the challenges and opportunities, and this refreshed Perth and Kinross Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2025-2030 will outline our ambitions to increase the attractiveness of the destination in a competitive and changing market, in turn increasing the number of day visitors and overnight stays; increasing dwell time; overall visitor spends and job opportunities in our area. 6. Impact and Value Assessment Perth___Kinross_Tourism_Strategy_and_Action_Plan_2025-2030.pdf 7. Appendices 7.1 Appendix 1 - Perth & Kinross Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2025-2030.