The fact that the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce (STRT) even exists tells you all you need to know about the damage that has been caused by Covid-19 on the tourism industry.
In 2020 alone, 78 per cent of tourism companies in Scotland reported reduced revenue from 2019 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
When we think of tourism in Scotland, we think castles, lochs, and some of the most spectacular and rugged scenery on earth. All of this plays a huge part in Scotland’s £6 billion tourism industry, around five per cent of the country’s GDP, but there is more to it than that.
The Glasgow Convention Bureau, a subsidiary to Glasgow Life, the city’s cultural, sporting and learning activities organisation, has been incredibly successful over the last year, establishing Glasgow as a nerve-centre of ideas and innovation.
There are over 50,000 delegates from all corners of the globe set to grace Glasgow’s gangways between April 2022 and March 2023, as the city plays host to more than 100 meetings, of which the Glasgow Convention Bureau claim will see £87m in delegate spending.
Although the bureau looks at Glasgow as a whole, it would be hard not to concentrate efforts and resources towards the Scottish Events Campus (SEC) complex.
SEC are confident that Glasgow’s prominent events status will continue into the foreseeable future, as they look to add a £200m conference centre to their repertoire, currently consisting of the OVO Hydro, Armadillo and the original SEC Centre.
There are ongoing discussions on the potential investment, perhaps brought about due to turning down Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and Michael Bublé in the same week, as they couldn’t squeeze them into the schedule.
Peter Duthie, Chief Executive of SEC, claims Glasgow “punches well above its weight” in the conference industry, and it’s hard to disagree with him. As catchy as the famous Field of Dreams quote ‘If you build it, they will come’ is, the reality requires rigorous research and a robust planning strategy to justify a £200m project with government backing.
With SEC’s projections, the government’s subsidisation of the new project will “pay for itself in 10 years”, which is both a credit to the SEC team, as well as Glasgow’s ability to keep the people coming.
The news comes alongside the announcement that the SEC will play host to 1,500 representatives for the prestigious World Congress of Soil Science, estimated to be worth £4m to the city.
Such scientific and environmentally minded conferences should feel at home in Glasgow, with the UK’s second largest community of academics, outside London, as well as ranking 4th in the Global Destination Sustainability Index, just behind Gothenburg, Copenhagen, and Aarhus.
Two weeks ago, I talked of the closure of the Ethical Shellfish Company being another casualty of pandemic spending changes. The Scottish fishing industry has taken a hit too, but there is hope for the industry at large.
The most recent figures show that Scotland’s fish exports are worth around £1 billion per year, so it should not be a surprise to know there is work happening behind the scenes to defend this market share.
The Glasgow Convention Bureau announced that the Global Seafood Alliance’s Conference (GOAL) is set to come to Glasgow in the Autumn of 2024. It will be the first time in the UK, with the city successfully drawing them back to Europe for the first time since 2017.
We must admire the ambition of those working behind the scenes helping to attract conference organisers, as well as instigating consumer spending on the ground.
The success and prevalence of the conference trade in Glasgow is welcomed with open arms by the business sector at large.
As we are inundated with news of store closures, including long-standing institutions such as retail giants Marks & Spencer from Sauchiehall street, we must remember that there is ambition and drive to adapt Scottish business.
Glasgow’s tourism trade is rather modest compared to Edinburgh’s, but the work that the bureau has done in putting Glasgow on the map, using the city’s high-quality and plentiful transport connections to its advantage is to be commended.
Scotland and Glasgow welcome the spotlight, ready as always to show off its famously warm welcome, when delegates come to town.
Aberdeen and Glasgow Property Markets Signal Resurgence
It was good to see that the commercial and industrial property market is beginning to see positive growth across the country, with a number of large-scale deals having taken place since the year began.
In the North East, new figures have revealed that Aberdeen’s industrial property market has enjoyed a strong start to 2022, as confidence began to return to the sector.
Property consultancy Knight Frank found that 235,344 square feet of industrial space was transacted during the first quarter of 2022 in the Granite City, up by 37 per cent on the same period a year earlier.
With higher oil prices and an increase in activity in the North Sea, along with potential further investment in fossil fuels moving forward, industrial property is seeing the benefits as demand increases.
Although commercial and industrial property supply in Aberdeen still outweighs demand, it is certainly a step in the right direction for the region and the upward trend is likely to continue throughout.
Strong demand from the public sector, professional services and green energy firms has also seen a boost in commercial property deals for Glasgow.
The likes of Cala Homes (West) announced it is relocating from its Falkirk HQ to Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street in a move that will better suit the business’ hybrid working model and help provide a boost to the area, which has recently seen the closure of the landmark Marks and Spencer store.
Businesses moving to hybrid working models have not seen the dramatic decline in commercial property within the city that was predicted, just a step change in the types of property required and an adaptation of the way in working.
With a buoyant commercial and industrial property market, the resurgence of our high streets is surely on the cards. Long may it continue.
It Made Me Laugh
Some say that you need to be brave to take on a hospitality business right now and Greene King Pub Partners are offering a pub for rent at just £75 per week for the first three months.
The pub in question is certainly not for the faint hearted, however it’s not due to rising business rates or staffing shortages – rather the spooky goings-on from within the building.
The Osnaburg Bar in Forfar, Angus, is up for lease and with numerous ghoulish sightings reported over the years, the hostelry is known for serving up more than just spirits for drinking.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, a unique USP can certainly make all the difference when building a business, so I wish good luck to whoever takes it on. They might need it.
It Made Me Weep
It was sad to see that Cumbernauld town centre, once lauded as vision of the future when it was built in the 1950’s, is to be torn down.
Hailed as a ‘town of tomorrow’ the centre boasted a ‘megastructure’, created from concrete and designed to hold Cumbernauld’s retail, administrative, cultural and recreational facilities.
The ambitious development did not age well however and, having been voted Scotland’s most dismal town twice, it’s been decided that the eyesore’s time is up.
Once described as “the Kabul of the North” by architecture magazine Urban Realm, I’m sure there will be many fond memories of the centre from residents who will be sad to see it go.
Hopefully planners get the development right this time and we see investment in Cumbernauld that future proofs the town for generations to come.
