What Visitors to Scotland Are Saying - Latest Research

The Visitor Experience Survey 2007 was commissioned by VisitScotland and conducted by Harris Interactive, an independent market research agency.

The purpose of the research was to access the attitudes and experiences of both domestic (UK including Scotland) and international visitors to Scotland (Germany, France, Italy and Canada). The survey was conducted by telephone between 2 July and 29 September 2007 amongst tourists on holiday or on short breaks in Scotland.

Here are some highlights from the research:

Reasons for choosing Scotland
The main reasons for choosing Scotland as a holiday destination are the scenery, nature and wildlife and the attitudes of local people.

Holiday accommodation
According to the survey international visitors are more likely to opt for bed and breakfast or guest house accommodation, with UK visitors preferring hotels. Self catering facilities were rated the highest for quality and value for money.

Eating out and Scottish food
One third of all visitors stated they were very interested in the local cuisine of their holiday destination. Pubs and bars were the most popular places to eat, with over two-thirds of those surveyed using them. Cafes, tea shops and good quality and budget restaurants were popular with over half of all visitors. Nine out of ten visitors felt that the quality of Scottish food met or exceeded their expectations.

Things to see and do
Visitors from the UK who participated in the survey favoured short walks, touring, exploring the Scottish scenery and relaxing. International visitors liked these activities as well as longer walks, visiting castles, historic houses, palaces and museums and visiting local pubs and restaurants to interact with the local people.

A series of executive summaries for each of the following countries is available at www.visitscotland.org/visitorexperience:

This valuable insight into what our customers are looking for allows VisitScotland to develop future marketing campaigns. In sharing this research, VisitScotland hopes to provide tourism businesses with valuable customer information to help shape what they might offer potential visitors.

Further information from fiona.carruthers@visitscotland.com or scott.bryden@visitscotland.com