NEW START // ISSUE 6 // 35
DC: Feelings about Homecoming in the hospitality, tourism and travel industries are mixed. Will it provide a return on investment? We all hope so.
Perhaps it is best to view Homecoming as a longer-term campaign.
Scotland competes with every other destination from Europe to Australia for visitors. Whisky, golf, heritage and our undeniable beauty are key to attracting visitors.
A positive visitor perception is built from good customer service. From the airport taxi driver to the hotel receptionist they all shape the visitors experience in a small way. Other countries excel in customer service and many businesses in Scotland are way behind. This is not solely about wages but about creating a culture of excellence, perhaps we should be investing here instead?
Homecoming could have the desired effect long- term but only if we are ready to become more focused on surpassing visitor expectations and step up to the challenge of the worldwide tourism market.
GE: Come to Scotland, attend our events, and spend money.
On the face of it, the concept is a good one, and one that golf loving, whiskey drinking Americans might actually fall for. But what about the massive budget (already thought to be overspent) to market the Homecoming - would this have been better spent elsewhere?
I’m sure if you ask any small business owner the answer will be a resounding yes - on issues such as employment, redundancies, lending, grants, simplified public sector tendering, shorter payment terms, tax breaks, VAT changes (the move to a 15% rate actually cost us money), and many more 'immediate’ concerns that are directly impacting the small business sector.
I’d argue against spending the large sums mentioned in promoting a false ‘shiny happy Scotland’ and all things Scottishness, when in fact things are far from rosy for small businesses. The FSB have just confirmed a 214% increase to the their small business help-line.
NP: The Homecoming scheme will most certainly benefit some sectors of Scottish business through simple media exposure around the world; generating interest in tourism, culture, business and industry. By far the greatest beneficiary will be the tourist industry and this input, both foreign and domestic, should generate some vital cash- flow to those communities that thrive upon tourism, and in these places it will certainly cushion the blow of recession.
The project is of course a vital promotion of our culture and identity as an industrious and well- founded nation; it also serves to galvanise the positive outlook that Scotland should hold within itself as we move into harder times - but perhaps the funds utilised to promote the scheme could be employed further to provide more equal shots of injected cash across the Scottish business spectrum; thus gaining more widespread acceptance and indeed support from this vast host of individuals and communities. Homecoming Scotland should not serve as a Nationalistic device but rather as a device to serve the Nation.
DW: The current state of the pound will almost certainly boost the numbers attending Homecoming events.
Whether they get the real value they seek will only be determined by the investment in the events rather than the amount spent on promoting them. For once, it would be a pleasant change to hear our political parties pulling together in such difficult times to support an initiative intended to be about national pride.
In the continued absence of any real censure for the financial greed mongers who chose to flout regulation, abandon good governance and abuse the trust placed in them (in pursuit of personal glory and wealth) I would suggest a range of punishments to be meted out by members of the public. Everything from wet sponges to a modern version of medieval stocks or ducking stool. £1 per capita from each “tourist” should be sufficient to contribute a substantial amount to the costs for the Homecoming year, Sky/Setanta/CNBC may be interested in coverage and, whilst it may not do much for public confidence, it would certainly do a lot for the nation’s feelgood factor.
Join the debate
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