QUADRAT

Kirsten Gow and Lorna Philip’s contribution to Geography Directions reports how concerns over the impact of tourism in economically fragile rural areas of Scotland has led to the development of a new initiative designed to help island communities gain more value from tourism in their area.

Visitors to rural Scotland need somewhere to stay and demands for tourist accommodation impact on local housing markets and can create tensions between the industry and the wider community. IsleHoliday, the new initiative from not-for-profit entrepreneurs IsleDevelop, offers and innovative solution to rebalance the benefit and burden of tourism within Scotland’s island communities.

Kirsten Gow said, “Tourism is key part of many island economies, but the potential benefits of tourism are often finely balanced against the needs of fragile communities. Over the last few years there have been calls from several quarters for a more community-led approach to tourism to help maintain and sustain the services and infrastructure used by both residents and visitors. Initiatives such as IsleHoliday could be an important tool in allowing communities to access more of the revenue from tourism in their area, for the benefit of all.”

Read the full article here.

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Full article available here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/geosciences/news/15962/

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Notes for Editors