By Heather Cameron Today is World Tourism Day (WTD), the aim of which is “to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.” (United Nations) Commencing on 27 September 1980, WTD is celebrated each year with fitting events based on themes selected by the […]
By Steven McGinty On 22 March, I attended ‘Smarter Tourism: Shaping Glasgow’s Data Plan’, an event held as part of DataFest 2017, a week-long festival of data innovation with events hosted across Scotland. Daniel MacIntyre, from Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (the city’s official marketing organisation), opened the event by highlighting Glasgow’s ambitious target of increasing […]
Tourism has a big impact on the UK economy. Figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council show that: The total contribution of travel and tourism to UK GDP was £187.7bn in 2014, and is forecast to rise to £263.9bn in 2025 In 2014 travel and tourism directly supported 5.7% of total UK employment Visitor […]
by Brelda Baum It is estimated that tourism has the potential to generate $2 trillion globally by 2020 – as the economic situation improves and the ‘Great Recession’ is deemed all but over, let’s take a look at the evidence of the economic value of tourism to the UK and its regions. The Deloitte and […]
by Brelda Baum Training and skills remain perennial issues for the tourism industry. Therefore, the recent call by UK Skills Minister, Matthew Hancock at a Work Foundation conference on skills, held on 3rd March 2014, for a move from a low to a high ‘training culture’ resonates with the European Commission’s proposal to establish a […]
By Steven McGinty In March, the UK Space Agency announced it had awarded £50,000 to the University of Strathclyde’s Scottish Centre for Satellite Applications (SoXSA) for its work with Glasgow City Council to attract entrepreneurs and start-ups to Glasgow’s innovation hub, Tontine. Six companies will benefit from the support, which includes space industry specific business […]
The key to inclusive place based economic growth? The principle of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) is pretty straightforward, and the legislation in Scotland is flexible enough to ensure that pretty much anyone can create and act on a BID-based idea. There are currently over 30 live BID projects in Scotland, with BIDs Scotland stating in […]
How do you sum up a city in a slogan? The simple answer is that you can’t. But that hasn’t stopped towns and cities around the world trying to encapsulate their essence in a few well-chosen (or sometimes ill-chosen) words. For some, a slogan is a fun way to show that a town or city […]
By Heather Cameron Predominantly set within environmentally attractive surroundings, historic towns and cities have a strong sense of place, offer a good quality of life, are often prosperous and represent models of sustainable development. Research shows that businesses based in older places are more productive than the average for all commercial businesses across the whole […]
Back in December, I attended the International Symposium on Evaluating Digital Cultural Resources at the newly refurbished Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. The day provided an opportunity for researchers and professionals with an interest in culture and heritage in Scotland to come together to consider how digital technologies are transforming the sector. Key questions addressed included […]
