26 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com PRESIDENT GLASGOW TALKS Tourism’s Future G


lasgow Caledonian University academic John Lennon is known for his wry sense of humour. But when the Director of the University’s Moffat Centre for Travel & Tourism posed the question: “Would 2018 be the year


that Scottish tourism runs out of steam?”, it didn’t quite get them laughing in the Western Isles. Professor Lennon’s comment was the opening gambit at the Glasgow Talks… Tourism’s Future event, supported by Clydesdale Bank and the Adam Smith Business School, at Tay House on 13 March. After a welcome and introduction from the Chamber’s Senior Director, Alison McRae, he painted a bleak picture before four other panel members, Stephen Leckie, Chief Executive of Crieff Hydro; Cathy Craig of the Entrepreneurial Exchange; Gerry O’Donnell of Edrington whisky group and Lesley Thomson of Spreng Thomson and a trustee of the Glasgow School of Art, painted a more positive canvas. The 2017 picture, according to the professor’s charts, was stark. While there had been an increase in the number of international visitors, overall domestic demand – that’s our visiting cousins from England and Wales – was down. He also pointed out that business travel was down but Scotland now presented a “value proposition” for the Europeans, who have been making the most of the stronger Euro against the pound. Since the Brexit vote, the value of UK currency has been hit, which was having an impact on food prices and other costs in hotels and restaurants, squeezing margins. The better news was that seven Scottish attractions (five of which are in Glasgow) were receiving more than a million visitors, while two of the seven, in Edinburgh, broke the two million barrier. Stephen Leckie said there was an urgent need to continue


investment in skills and infrastructure. On the plus side, Scotland has a Tourism Minister who is approachable and


The Glasgow Talks… Tourism’s Future Panel


VisitScotland is a national tourism authority with a £36 million a year budget. Cathy Craig said Scotland must focus on creating a more inclusive entrepreneurial culture where staff in bars and restaurants are encouraged to think how they can help the customer and the business. Gerry O’Donnell spoke about whisky’s continuing strength


and how it is an industry worth £4.37 billion, supporting 40,000 jobs, while Lesley Thomson was vehement about Glasgow’s wonderful multi-faceted story. She said that the city has an authentic tale to tell visitors, but first we must make this accessible to Glaswegians. In all, the panel was positive about what Glasgow has to


offer, and Professor Lennon conceded that while his question had been well tackled, there was no resting on laurels when Glasgow’s tourism is such a competitive international business.


Entrepreneurship in Life Sciences


February’s Glasgow Talks took place at Scottish Opera and Chris Hillier, Chief Executive Officer of Angry Health, and a scientific advisor of GuideWell, spoke about the massive global changes in healthcare, and their impact on Scotland. Chris, who lives in Florida, is a


Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University, and co-founder and CEO of Biopta, now the Biopta Group, based in Glasgow, UK, and Maryland, USA. He also set up Sistemic Scotland, based in Glasgow, for applications in the development of cell therapies and drug repositioning. He is both a GlobalScot, and an ‘Away Team’


member of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce President’s Club. He talked about how Scotland’s health service needs to embrace this massive shift towards preventative health, encouraging wellbeing,


as opposed to increasingly costly interventions for curing preventable ailments in an ageing population. He argued that changing health care will give people more control and choice, but agrees that many people have little idea or confidence in how to make their lives better and healthier. Health is personal and everyone’s needs are different. People are looking for a complete solution that’s simple, addresses their concerns and fits their lifestyle, he said. One Chamber attendee


Connie Young, Facilitator, Glasgow


Chamber of Commerce President’s Club; Chris Hillier, Chief Executive Officer, Angry Health and Stuart Patrick, Chief Executive, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce


commented: “This was beyond interesting. It is a fundamental issue for every one of us and Chris’s talk was outstanding. It really opened my eyes to some serious issues for Scottish society.”


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