THE importance of the holiday park sector to Scotland’s economy has been underlined after it was revealed that it generates more than £700 million of visitor spend each year.
Holiday park owners and tourism-related businesses gathered at the annual conference of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (Scotland) recently, where tourism minister Fergus Ewing praised the 200-plus park businesses.
Mr Ewing said that the benefits of the sector were felt across the country, thanks to the millions of pounds spent by visitors to the regions.
“The holiday park sector offers good quality accommodation for all types of visitors, and helps to sustain employment in some of Scotland’s most remote and rural areas,” Mr Ewing said.
“In this it is a great success story. With the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design just around the corner, there are even more reasons to organise a holiday or short break in Scotland, and I have no doubt that the sector will take full advantage of this excellent opportunity.”
He also stated that Scottish holiday parks helped contribute to overseas visitor numbers, which were up by 4% compared with last year, and their spending up by 10%.
An independent study commissioned by the Scottish Caravan and Camping Forum (SCCF) found that the sector supported more than 5,600 full-time equivalent jobs.
The study reported that, overall, Scottish holiday parks contribute a total of 8% of all the revenue produced by Scotland’s tourism economy – which is more than the country’s B&B and guest house sector.
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