VisitScotland loses the plot

Richard — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:33:40 +0000

Regional tourism board VisitScotland are, unsurprisingly, tasked with promoting tourism north of the border. It's not a difficult job, as Scotland has fantastic scenery, internationally renowned outdoor sports facilities and the whole Edinburgh festival thingie. It's also served pretty well by trains - although a high-speed rail link certainly wouldn't go amis.

So why has the QUANGO jumped into bed with easyJet? Eagle-eyed readers of the Times this week may have spotted joint adverts promoting cheap flights to Inverness. Now, flying to Inverness isn't exactly environmentally friendly, but it's not just about emissions. The UK has a £17 billion tourism deficit, mostly brought about by the ludicrous growth of cheap flights. Jumping into bed with an airline is just making the problem worse.