Grow your business with Scottish food and drink

This article is reproduced from Experiencing Scotland Update dated February 2011 - if you have any articles you wish to publish on TourismMatters email us the link or document

Research undertaken by Scottish Enterprise during 2009 indicated that visitors prefer to buy food and drink with local provenance, that is food ‘with a story behind it’ of where, when, how and by whom it was produced. It also found that businesses and events providing locally sourced Scottish food enhance their visitors’ experience and typically enjoy higher levels of sales - on average 20% more per year.

With three out of four visitors saying that eating local cuisine would enhance their visit – and with Scottish produce currently only accounting for around 60% of food and drink sales at tourism venues across the country - we have a huge opportunity to increase the use of fresh ingredients and local dishes to attract new, first time visitors, enhance their visitor experience and entice them back.

Whether you’re a small B&B or a large visitor attraction, providing good food for visitors will also improve your bottom line. On average, visitors could spend nearly £1 more on food and drink at your business if you offered authentic local and Scottish produce. That could amount to £94 million in additional sales across the country if we were all to offer this!

For a summary of the Experiencing Scotland research go to www.tourism-intelligence.co.uk