Industry Update: Ten North Highlands communities benefit from projects to rebalance tourism

A series of workshop-based projects are helping ten local areas across the North Highlands pioneer a community-first visitor-second approach to tourism.

Following the success of the pilot, the organisers are keen to hear from other communities across the North Highlands who want to use this tailored approach to make tourism work better for them.

The Press Pause projects, run by SCOTO CIC and supported and funded by NHI with additional grant support from Highland Council’s Community Regeneration Fund via Wester Ross Biosphere, are bringing together communities to identify issues and opportunities and support the creation of a plan to take back control of tourism locally.

Genevieve Duhigg, Chair of NHI, said: “Drawing these groups together has been hugely positive and a way of allowing communities to develop and manage tourism in their areas in a way that works for them. Some of the issues identified were common to many regions: from challenges around staffing and motorhomes, to opportunities for increased accommodation provision and community-controlled marketing and information provision that would allow local people to choose and control how the area was promoted.”

The ten areas, which stretch from Dornie to Thurso, are each running a local workshop for business and community interests which is fully facilitated by SCOTO. This then generates a detailed report setting out the findings and filled with ideas and opportunities for the community to lead and control the development, management and promotion of their community as a destination. A key feature of each workshop and the report is reference to experience elsewhere as a stimulus for action.

Each community is then being provided with additional funding from NHI to progress quick wins. These range from festivals and guidebooks, to murals, maps and trails.

Examples include Lochcarron staging a Tartan Week celebration at the end of September this year bringing the community together through various events and activities in recognition of this west coast village being the inspiration behind a global tartan brand. The hope is this will become an annual event. In addition, Thurso has repositioned itself as the Hub of the North in recognition of it being the northernmost town on the UK mainland, and has published a new online guidebook.

Other communities are looking at new tear off maps to better orientate and disperse visitors and are looking at resurrecting old and creating new self-guided walks and online content to much better portray their community as a great place to live, work and visit.

Genevieve Duhigg continued: “These workshops have been terrifically successful in getting different interests around the table, focusing minds on local issues and finding solutions. They have enabled communities to scope out and take forward innovative and effective projects that will allow them to better control the tourism in their own area, creating a community-first; visitor-second approach that supports them to thrive. We’re really pleased to have been able to fund these projects and it’s extremely positive to see communities come together to take them forward.”

Carron Tobin, Executive Director of SCOTO said: “I’m delighted with the appetite for these Press Pause projects. We piloted this with Thurso and Lochcarron, and the format we’ve developed enables groups to find solutions to the challenges presented by tourism and capitalise on the opportunities in a way that works for the needs of local people. We are finding that Press Pause is stimulating proper discussions about what really matters to individual communities; and then focussing on what needs to be done differently.

“We know that there are other communities across the North Highlands that are interested in getting involved in Press Pause and would urge them to get in touch. We’d be keen, for example, to develop an island-based programme including areas in the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland and would be keen to hear from communities there.

“With the work progressed with NHI and further afield, the Press Pause process is now recognised as a tried, tested and tailored approach for any Scottish community who wants to make tourism work better for them and bring added value.”

The North Highlands communities involved in Press Pause are:
Lochcarron
Thurso
Brora
Wick
Plockton
Ullapool
Shieldaig
Dornie
Durness
Tongue

Those looking to find out more about the North Highlands Press Pause community-led tourism projects, should contact info@north-highlands.co.uk. Find out more about NHI at www.northhighlandinitiative.co.uk. Find out more about SCOTO at www.scoto.co.uk.

[Image: AchMelvich]