THE Scottish Government has announced an extra £9m in funding for Scottish tourism businesses.
The package is made up of £6m from the £375m in business support announced by Nichola Sturgeon and £3m repurposed from phase-1 of the tourism recovery programme.
The funding is to support areas of the tourism sector hit hard by covid-19 and is to be split between coach operators, day tour operators, hostels, inbound tour operators and visitor attractions.
Tourism minister Ivan Mckee said: “We have now allocated up to £9m to help ease the impacts of the pandemic on Scotland’s world-class tourism sector and ensure that affected businesses can survive what is clearly an especially tough winter period and be ready to trade fully in the spring and summer months.
“We know this won’t cover all losses and will continue to press the UK Government for more comprehensive support.”
Travel trade association UKinbound addresses and engages with government, media travel trade and the public to raise awareness of inbound tourisms impact on the UK economy.
Joss Croft CEO of UKinbound said: “We’re very pleased that the Scottish Government has recognised the devastating impact Omicron is having on the tourism industry and its supply chain and is rolling out an additional £9m financial package.
“In stark contrast, Westminster continues to leave the inbound tourism industry out in the cold, ignoring the crippling impact of international restrictions on inbound tour operators and the need for tailored financial support, which threatens the recovery of the UK’s fifth largest export industry.”
