ATTRACTING one million more visitors and positioning Glasgow as the “gateway to Scotland” is at the heart of ambitious plans to grow the city’s tourism economy.
Glasgow’s new Tourism and Visitor Plan to 2023 sets out a clear direction for building the city’s global profile as a successful tourist destination and is focused on increasing overnight leisure tourism visits by one million over the next seven years.
Achieving three million overnight visits per year by 2023 will deliver an economic boost of £771 million and contribute an additional 6,600 jobs in the city. It will also help to achieve Scotland’s target of an additional £1 billion of visitor expenditure by 2020 and align with the aims of the Glasgow City Region City Deal; supporting the growth of the region’s economy.
To deliver this ambition, Glasgow has prioritised the positioning of its cultural tourism offer in key UK and international markets which, for the first time, is centred around six core themes: heritage; contemporary art; music; Charles Rennie Mackintosh; events and the city’s capability as a world-class sporting destination.
Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “Glasgow’s biggest opportunity for growth is in leisure tourism and so, for the first time, we will focus our efforts on promoting the key strands that underpin our cultural tourism offer.
“At the same time, overseas visitors also come to see the best of Scotland, so we will position Glasgow as the gateway to Scotland.”
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