ABSTRACT
This chapter deals principally with the recent failure of Scottish tourism to realize its commercial potential. For example, the declining tourism income year on year in Scotland since 1997 is evidenced by VisitScotland’s own statistics (see Table 7.1), and by the need in 2000 to review Scotland’s National Tourism Organisation (NTO) VisitScotland’s predecessor the Scottish Tourist Board (STB) (see Scottish Tourist B oard Management Review, Report and Recommendations (2 000)), following which the organisation underwent radical change. In consequence, it replaced its Chairman, Chief Executive and six senior divisional managers with new personnel and a new leaner, flatter structure, and which coincided with a considerable budget increase. At the same time, the Scottish Enterprise network (SEn) commenced on a business transformation which had a fundamental impact on its approach to tourism, particularly towards grants and support to the industry. This was compounded in November 2002 when tourism was removed from the Scottish Executive’s Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department (ELLD), instead merging with Culture and Sport, and functioning from within the Education Department (see below).
