Committee News Release

CENT 06/2004

2 July 2004

ENTERPRISE COMMITTEE CRITICISES EXECUTIVE’S AREA TOURIST BOARD REVIEW

The Scottish Executive’s two year review of area tourist boards in Scotland has come under fire from MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Enterprise Committee.

In a short, interim report published today, the Committee is critical of the Executive for having spent two years reviewing the Area Tourist Board (ATB) structure and still not having identified a clear, new structure to replace it. The report says a great deal of uncertainty remains over the nature of the ‘hubs’ which are to replace the ATB.

Alasdair Morgan MSP, Convener of the Committee said:

“Our Committee is surprised and disappointed at the high level of uncertainty that exists after two years of review. Frankly, this is not a good situation to find one of Scotland ’s biggest industries in.”

“Many of those involved in the industry have real doubts about whether the new structure will be in place in by April, as planned by the Executive and whether it will work. Our Committee is concerned at this apparent lack of progress and will want to return to the issue later this year.”

Background Information

Scotland is currently covered by 14 Area Tourist Boards funded by local authorities, local businesses and VisitScotland.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport announced the outcome of the Area Tourist Board Review on 11 March 2004 .

This proposed the abolition of the ATBs and that with effect from April 2005, local tourism support should be managed by VisitScotland, through 14 ‘hubs’.

Other findings in the Interim Report

Whilst there is support from many organisations for what is proposed the Committee also has major concerns as to whether the new, proposed structure can support itself financially, and that this may lead to reduced funding for tourism support in the future.

It notes that local authorities, as major contributors to tourism development and the operators of a large number of tourist attractions, are very concerned about the new structure, and are offered no democratic accountability within it.

The Scottish Parliament’s Enterprise and Culture Committee’s interim report on the Area Tourist Board Review is available on the Parliament’s website.

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