Elections to the Scottish Parliament take place on Thursday 7 May. In this series we look at what decisions are made in our parliament which affect daily lives in Scotland. So far we’ve looked at Education,  NHS Scotland, Transport, Migration,  Energy, Housing, and Farming and Fishing.

Tourism.

Scotland, with its beautiful, dramatic scenery, strong cultural identity, and fascinating history, is a place people wish to visit. 4.4 million of them will come from overseas, but 76.8 million will be visitors from within its own borders and from across rUK.

The Scottish Parliament has devolved powers over Tourism – a sector which supports 1 in every 11 jobs and businesses in Scotland. For the economy , Tourism is a big hitter with £9billion being contributed by the hospitality sector alone. In 2024 the total international visitor spend in Scotland was £4billion.

At a time when many industries are struggling – people still want to visit sites of historic interest, take short breaks (or perhaps longer holidays) enjoying Scotland’s landscape, food, and drink. There are many festivals celebrating everything from Shetland wool to the Orkney Blues Festival, or one of the 60 book/literary festivals to the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. There is quite simply, something for everyone, and every age group.

For us in Orkney, Tourism and its related sectors, is a major contributor to the local economy. According to the Orkney Visitor Survey (2024), the largest proportion of visitors to Orkney, 37%, came from Scotland, and 31% from rUK. Europe provided 17% of overseas visitors, with 10% North America, 5% Australia/New Zealand, and 1% other countries. (excludes cruise liner passengers).

The Tourism industry was devastated during the Covid-19 pandemic when travel was strictly limited, lockdowns imposed, and cruise liner call ins stopped. The Scottish Government provided the tourism and hospitality sectors with £129million of support to protect jobs and businesses. This was a vital lifeline to the industry till it could recover from the impact of the pandemic. The industry proved its worth and resilience, and outperforms that of rUK for inbound visits and value. (Scottish Tourism Alliance)

VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism and events organisation. It recently decided, quite controversially, to close all of its Tourism Centres across Scotland, and go 100% online. It now has no physical presence in our towns and cities, expecting all visitors to go online for information.

The Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) is the leading and largest member organisation for tourism and hospitality. It has produced its own manifesto for the Scottish Parliament Elections this May 7.

The global impact of the US/Israel War of Choice with Iran has produced surging fuel costs and uncertainty for the travel industry. The Cost of Living crisis means that one of the first things families cut back on are holidays. Leaving the European Union has created further travel woes for UK residents with long delays at airports to get through passport checks where once travel was much easier.

For Tourism in Scotland to continue to be successful it needs MSPs in the Scottish Parliament who understand the value of this sector and will choose policies which will support and invest in it. The sector is diverse – as illustrated in this infographic from the STA manifesto.

The Visitor Levy.

The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, was recently amended Visitor Levy (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill, and passed in the Scottish Parliament in March 2026. In response to criticisms of the Act – changes were made.

Local authorities will now be able to set a levy as a fixed amount or amounts. That new option is in addition to the existing percentage-rate model, giving councils the flexibility to choose the approach that best reflects their local visitor economy, particularly where accommodation prices are more consistent and a fixed amount of the levy might be simpler and more effective. – Ivan McKee.

… local authorities [have] the option to allow accommodation providers to deduct and retain a proportion of the levy to help to meet reasonable administration costs. 

In 2024 The Orkney News published the following article : Scotland’s Councils Welcome New Powers with The Visitor Levy Scheme. Orkney Islands Council chose a different path in 2025 : No Tourist Tax for Orkney.

Money raised from the Visitor Levy, where it is applied in Scotland, will be used to support services linked to tourism.

Scotland Outlook 2030 is the national Tourism Strategy. Launched in March 2020 (as the Covid-19 pandemic was beginning ) Scotland Outlook 2030 was developed through an equal partnership between the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Government, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and Skills Development Scotland. A promo video followed on from the launch.

The Vision – We will be the world leader in 21st century tourism.

The Mission – Together we will grow the value and positively enhance the benefits of tourism across Scotland by delivering the very best for our visitors, our businesses, our people, our communities and our environment.

Key Priorities – Our passionate people, our thriving places, our diverse businesses, our memorable experiences.

Our Commitments – For each of our key priorities we have an agreed set of commitments. These commitments will ensure that we deliver on our vision to be the world leader in 21^st century tourism.

If Scotland is to continue on course to develop a sustainable and successful Tourism industry it will require a Scottish Parliament that is also ambitious and clear in its goals to be a world leader in how it supports a key sector of our economy.

Elections to the Scottish Parliament take place on Thursday May 7.

Fiona Grahame

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