The latest Tourism Attitudes Survey (2002) from VisitScotland provides further evidence that the natural environment is a key part of what visitors value about Scotland.

For more information, read on........

Table 1: Pre & Post-visit Descriptions Particularly Associated with Scotland (%)

Attribute (rank)	France		Italy		Spain		Germany		USA		Scotland		England
	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post
Beautiful Scenery (1)	79	90	92	97	90	95	93	94	91	96	89	91	90	94
Nature & Wildlife (4)	57	68	51	74	49	60	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wilderness (5)	50	87	39	74	51	66	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hiking/ Walking	33	70	19	46	30	49	49	79	34	71	46	62	37	66
Unspoilt Environment (9)	31	77	21	75	18	79	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Good Beaches (21)	4	13	3	15	1	5	8	17	2	13	21	36	11	26

• All of the attributes listed increased in importance after the tourists had visited Scotland. That is, they were seen as very positive attributes, which contributed to the holiday experience.
• The scenery of Scotland was the highest ranking description associated with Scotland and this was consistent with tourists from all the countries surveyed. In all cases scenery was rated by at least 90% of the tourists as an attribute particularly associated with Scotland after their visit.
• Three out of the top five attributes associated with Scotland before a trip were environment focussed (scenery, nature and wildlife, wilderness).
• People did not particularly associate Scotland with the unspoilt environment prior to their visit, but after they had been here they rated the unspoiled environment as a very strong attribute of Scotland.

Table 2: Shifts in Pre and Post Descriptions Particularly Associated with Scotland

Description(rank, average increase)	France	Italy	Spain	Germany	USA	Scotland	England
Unspoilt Environment (1 +51%)	+46%	+54%	+61%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Wilderness (4 +31%)	+37%	+35%	+15%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Good Hiking/Walking (5 +28%)	+37%	+27%	+19%	+30%	+37%	+16%	+29%
Beautiful scenery (16 +7%)	+11%	+15%	+5%	+1%	+5%	+2%	+4%
Nature & Wildlife (12 +17%)	+11%	+23%	+11%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Good Beaches (19 +11%)	+9%	+12%	+4%	+9%	+11%	+15%	+15%

• These shifts in attributes indicate some were very strong shifts in the perception of Scotland, on their environmental perceptions, that is Scotland was seen as being even more stronger in these attributes once the tourists have actually been to Scotland.
• This is not to suggest that people actually used these resources, just that they were important for their perception of what Scotland has to offer.
• By far the largest increase was in the unspoilt environment, which with a 51% increase between pre and post visit ranking, suggests that this is image that is not associated with Scotland in people minds, before the start of their trip.
• Wilderness and nature and wildlife also saw large increases between peoples pre and post visit perceptions, suggesting also that perhaps there is a mismatch between pre-trip perceptions and post trip reality.
• The shift in beautiful scenery at 7% may seem small, but given that this figure is already high, this small increase should not be a surprise.

 

Table 3: Relative Importance of Attributes to all Visitors to Scotland

	Very Important (+5)	Quite Important (+4)	Neither (+3)	Not very Important (+2)	Not at all Important (+1)	Median Score (max 5)
Nature & Wildlife	62	29	7	2	-	4.51
Freshness/ Clean Air	60	30	6	3	1	4.46
Peace & Quiet/ Wilderness	65	23	7	3	3	4.44
People	47	41	6	5	1	4.29
History & Heritage	41	41	12	6	-	4.17
Feeling of Safety	51	28	11	6	5	4.15
Pubs, Ceilidhs, Trad. Music	20	39	26	10	5	3.60
Different way of Life	18	34	28	11	9	3.43
Performing Arts	19	24	31	17	9	3.27
Ghosts, Legends, Mystery	18	23	25	16	18	3.06
Outdoor Playground	20	21	24	13	22	3.02
Mist & Rain	14	23	29	16	18	2.98
City Experience	12	30	18	17	24	2.89

• With this scale of 1-5, any attribute with a score of 4 or above, should be seen as very positive.
• When presented with a list of attributes and asked to rate them in relative importance, the top three attributes were all related to the natural environment, suggesting this is very important to the image of Scotland.
• The Scottish people were themselves an integral part of the product, and safety was seen as being a strong factor in Scotland’s favour.  

Table 4: Main Attraction Which Influenced the Decision to Holiday in Scotland (%)

Attribute (ranking)	France	Italy	Spain	Germany	USA	Scotland	England
Landscape, Countryside & Scenery (1)	49	47	48	53	26	20	30
Mountains & Hills (6)	14	6	14	12	4	7	13
Lochs & Rivers (8)	11	10	11	7	2	2	5
Nature & Wildlife (9)	8	15	4	10	-	2	2

• In all the countries surveyed, the landscape, countryside and scenery were by far the most important factor which influenced the decision to visit Scotland. The countries listed, account or over 85% of tourism spend in Scotland (£3,850m).
• Europeans tend to rate the Scottish landscape, countryside and scenery a lot higher than the Scots and English, perhaps this is because they are a lot more familiar with the product.
• The USA visitors rated the landscape etc. very low compared to Europeans, but perhaps this is because their National Parks and other parts of their natural environment are well protected and long established.
• Although important for a minority, the lochs and rivers and the nature and wildlife in themselves are not highly rated relative to other environment attributes in the decision to visit to Scotland. However, they are still ranked 8th and 9th in the attributes measured.

For more information on the Visitor Attitudes Survey 2001, look at Scotexchange's 'Know Your Market' page.