‘Wild Scotland is Now’: the Wildlife, Adventure & Activity Tourism Sector in Scotland convenes to celebrate a bright future…

The Wild Scotland Industry Conference will take place during Scottish Tourism Month at the Birnam Arts & Conference Centre in Perthshire.  Hosted by Wild Scotland, the national association for Wildlife, Adventure & Activity tourism in Scotland, the Conference brings together over 100 industry professionals to hear inspirational speakers and plenary discussions on the nature-based tourism sector.

The sector is one of Scotland’s fastest growing, with ‘activity and adventure’ tourism worth £759m to the Scottish economy (2015 Adventure Tourism report).  and accounts for nearly 40% of tourism spending in Scotland (SNH 2017)

Keynote speakers including Chris Greenwood, Senior Tourism Insight Manager at VisitScotland and Alastair Humphreys, named as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, will be joined by Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham who will launch the conference.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Adventure and activity tourism is one of tourism’s fastest growing sectors and it’s essential that the industry comes together to discuss the opportunities and ways of working to continue to attract visitors to enjoy our great outdoors.

“The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the sector which is why we are contributing £40,000 towards the development of a new strategy for Wild Scotland, the National Association for Wildlife & Adventure Tourism in Scotland.

“The Wild Scotland conference is the perfect opportunity to discuss this and I’m looking forward to setting out the Scottish Government’s support for the sector’s sustainable growth, and highlighting how we can promote Scotland as a global leader in adventure tourism.”  

Ben Mardall, Wild Scotland Chair explains why ‘Wild Scotland is Now’:

“Scotland’s landscapes, wildlife and outdoor activities are consistently given as the top reasons for tourists to visit our country.  With over 70% of the industry anticipating growth in the next three years (ref WS industry survey 2019), our “Wild Scotland is Now” strategy is based around promoting our members and the wider industry to secure Scotland as a first-class destination for wildlife, adventure and activity tourism”.