Tourism in Scotland

Global leader in mountain biking and cycling

Did you know Scotland has twice been named the best place in the world to mountain bike? Or that Fort William is the home of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup?

Scotland's facilities and trails are in constant demand by thousands of businesses and consumers each year. From families who enjoy a leisurely ride to adrenaline junkies performing stunts, tourists are drawn to explore the country’s trails, tracks and purpose-built trail centres. And with easy access to a network of exhilarating, challenging terrains and wild, untamed landscapes, Scotland’s untamed back country, hills, glens and forests offer a spectacular background to rival any country in the world.

Scotland is a four-season destination, providing year-round opportunities, so visitors come for more than the mountain biking and leisure cycling. The experience is interwoven with the Scots’ warm welcome, a rich culture and heritage to explore and a vibrant food scene to complement our national drink, whisky.

Growth of whisky tourism

Whisky is Scotland's national drink and our biggest export, enjoyed across the globe as well as right here in Scotland. Skilled distillers take pure water from crystal-clear streams and plump, golden barley from the fields and transform them into a precious spirit, which is then poured into oak casks and tucked away to mature.

Many of our 100 active distilleries, spread across five whisky regions, offer fascinating tours and ‘whisky tourism’ has now hit an all-time high, with distilleries welcoming over two million visits from tourists in 2018. Indeed, distillery visits have grown by 56% since 2010, and this is quickly becoming a key leisure sector in Scotland.

Diageo has committed £185 million investment to transform its Scotch whisky visitor experiences in the biggest programme ever seen in Scotland’s whisky tourism sector. The centrepiece of the investment will be a new state-of-the-art Johnnie Walker immersive visitor experience bringing to life the story of the world’s most popular Scotch whisky and creating a unique welcome for millions of Scotch fans around the world.

The home of golf

With a legacy that spans six centuries, there is no finer place to play a round of golf than the country that gave the game to the world. Tourists in Scotland are spoiled for choice with over 550 fantastic courses to play, including links, parkland, and heathland courses, and everything else in between.

Scotland also offers the perfect opportunity to see some of the world's most prestigious tournaments being played out. Scotland regularly hosts The Open Championship and the Ricoh Women's British Open, among many others.

Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus – among scores of other top golfers – have all played here and many of Scotland's most prestigious courses were designed by golfing legends.

Would you be surprised to know that business events currently represent 20% of all tourism expenditure in Scotland, with delegates typically spending more than leisure visitors? This is indeed big business, particularly in the life sciences sector, as Scotland is home to Europe’s largest cluster of scientists working in life sciences. Our bio-revolution is attracting unprecedented numbers of international meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) to Scotland.

In fact, Scotland's seven cities currently attract 410,000 international business tourists every year, beating off competition for MICE business from the likes of Vienna, Barcelona and Sydney.

Glasgow has a great track record for hosting high-profile international events, including the United Nations global COP26 climate summit in 2021 - the biggest international summit the UK has ever seen.

Picking the right destination is key to planning successful (and memorable) events and the good news is that Scotland has lots of fantastic destinations to choose from.

Outside our cities, you’ll find showstopping venues, such as castles and country estates in glorious surroundings, that are perfect for incentive activities. Add to that, sumptuous gala dinners, and places of industry and academic learning, such as Stirling, that are pioneers in many industries.

Invest in Scotland and you’ll find a strong, growing accommodation sector which continues to attract leading brands and operators from across the globe. Scotland has attracted some of the largest global hotel groups such as Hilton, Marriott, Accor, IHG and Radisson hotel group.

Scottish cities are building on the success of world-class events and major infrastructure projects. The strength of the business and leisure tourism markets in Scotland’s cities drive year-round occupancy and high room rates. The demand for additional accommodation presents significant opportunities for providers, developers and investors. 

From Edinburgh’s year-round tourism economy, to Glasgow’s UK-leading MICE market (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) and Dundee's £1 billion investment in the waterfront area, Scotland’s cities offer a diverse range of options for development. 

Edinburgh saw the highest level of investment in hotels of any city outside of London last year. The city saw 11 deals worth around £260 million during 2021.

Source: Knight Frank, UK Hotel Capital Markets Investment Review 2022