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Tourism in Highland has been a major success story. It has seen near year-on-year growth for 20 years and attracted 8.4 million visitors in 2023, its highest yet. It has become a world leading destination, known for its natural environment, landscapes and unique culture and heritage.
Its growth has given rise to a wide range of opportunities and challenges. It is a cornerstone of our economy, employing over 21,000 people in every part of Highland and helping to sustain our communities. Yet the environmental impacts of tourism, plus the pressure put on communities, infrastructure and services, pose significant challenges. Positive strides have been made to address these impacts but collectively we need to do more to ensure we have a responsible and thriving tourism sector which is able to adapt, innovate and deliver positive benefits for communities, our environment, and our economy.
Over the coming years, significant sums of money will be invested in the sector in Highland by the private sector, public agencies, and through community led schemes. This offers huge opportunity for the region, and the Council is actively exploring ways to work in partnership with others and co-invest to maximise available development opportunities, leveraging expertise and resources to propel its ambitious growth objectives. The Highland Council has a pivotal yet distinct role to play. The purpose of this strategy is to set out the Highland Council’s long-term ambition for a sustainable tourism sector and contribution up to 2030 and beyond. It will shape how the Council will work with others, invest its resources, and co-invest with partners, including future income streams such as the visitor levy and any other external funds which can be secured.
The strategy forms one step in a multilayered approach to working with others towards transitioning to a more economically sustainable and climate conscious tourism sector.
The next key step for the Council will be to create a delivery programme to set out short, medium and longer term investment plans to help deliver the ambitions in this strategy. This delivery programme will be influenced by the resources available to the Council, co-investment, and those that others are able to contribute.
Tourism in Highland has been a major success story. It has seen near year-on-year growth for 20 years and attracted 8.4 million visitors in 2023, its highest yet. It has become a world leading destination, known for its natural environment, landscapes and unique culture and heritage.
Its growth has given rise to a wide range of opportunities and challenges. It is a cornerstone of our economy, employing over 21,000 people in every part of Highland and helping to sustain our communities. Yet the environmental impacts of tourism, plus the pressure put on communities, infrastructure and services, pose significant challenges. Positive strides have been made to address these impacts but collectively we need to do more to ensure we have a responsible and thriving tourism sector which is able to adapt, innovate and deliver positive benefits for communities, our environment, and our economy.
Over the coming years, significant sums of money will be invested in the sector in Highland by the private sector, public agencies, and through community led schemes. This offers huge opportunity for the region, and the Council is actively exploring ways to work in partnership with others and co-invest to maximise available development opportunities, leveraging expertise and resources to propel its ambitious growth objectives. The Highland Council has a pivotal yet distinct role to play. The purpose of this strategy is to set out the Highland Council’s long-term ambition for a sustainable tourism sector and contribution up to 2030 and beyond. It will shape how the Council will work with others, invest its resources, and co-invest with partners, including future income streams such as the visitor levy and any other external funds which can be secured.
The strategy forms one step in a multilayered approach to working with others towards transitioning to a more economically sustainable and climate conscious tourism sector.
The next key step for the Council will be to create a delivery programme to set out short, medium and longer term investment plans to help deliver the ambitions in this strategy. This delivery programme will be influenced by the resources available to the Council, co-investment, and those that others are able to contribute.
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