Survey will help shape Shetland’s recovery plan

VisitScotland has this week published the findings of the 2019 Shetland Islands Visitor Survey, commissioned by Shetland Islands Council (SIC) and aimed at providing robust and up-to-date estimates of visitor volume and value, as well as information on motivations, behaviours and experiences.

The findings of the survey illustrate the growth of the leisure tourism market in the islands since the last survey in 2017 and the importance of the industry to the Shetland economy. It will also be an important building block in the recovery of the market following the coronavirus pandemic, according to VisitScotland Development Manager, Steve Mathieson.

Since the start of the current crisis, the national tourism organisation has been working closely alongside SIC’s Economic Development department and partner agencies, including Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Promote Shetland and the Shetland Tourism Association, to ensure that the industry is well-informed on what avenues of support are being made available by the government.

VisitScotland has been feeding back critical information from the industry to the government on a weekly basis through the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group (STERG) and other channels to ensure there is an understanding of the real needs of businesses and where some are in danger of falling through the cracks. This has helped ensure a swift and flexible approach from the government which is now covering most of the bases, although more work is still needed, according to Mr Mathieson.

The survey data was gathered using a two-stage approach – stage one being interviews conducted face-to-face with visitors at key exit points from the islands – Holmsgarth ferry terminal and Sumburgh Airport - and stage two being a follow-up online survey to gather more detailed feedback. In total, 3,363 calibration interviews and 464 online surveys were completed.

The survey reveals that there were 80,128 total visits to Shetland in 2019, up from 73,262 in 2017, the value of these visits being £35.8m with the average spend per person £448. This is an increase in the value of visits by £12.6m and an increase in average spend by person of £131 since 2017. Out of the 80,128 visits in 2019, 50% were for leisure purposes and there was a large rise in first time visitors to the islands.

It revealed how the vast majority of visitors to Shetland provided a very positive evaluation of their experience on the islands with 94% of leisure visitors rating their satisfaction with their trip to Shetland with a score of 8, 9 or 10 out of 10 and  59% giving a perfect 10 out of 10 score.

“The findings of this latest visitor survey are very positive. Shetland is renowned for its wildlife and stunning scenery, unique culture, archaeology, arts and music. People flock here to see this for themselves and I am confident they will again, but it will take time.

“It is encouraging to see from the survey that 72% of our visitors come from either Scotland or the UK. Once restrictions are eased, these will be the people who will return first to visit us, as international visitors will take longer to return to overseas travel again.

“It is also interesting to see that compared to 2017 there has been an increase in the proportion of visits to friends and relatives (11% in 2017 compared to 20% in 2019) and we would expect to see this replicated as lockdown is eased as people are keen to see their friends and relatives again after such a long period away from them.

“Unsurprisingly, the survey details how interactions with local people were a particular highlight for visitors – 98% of those who answered agreed that local people really added to the experience and 90% enjoyed excellent customer service. We always give visitors a warm welcome and this is something that is important to them and is something Shetlanders are renowned for.”

“However, my feeling is that the results of this report will help point the way towards some measure of recovery – there is a great deal of information in this survey showing the things we were doing right, including productive and positive social media campaigns, and the success of local businesses in developing high quality products and services for the visitor economy. 

“Collective efforts to develop our offer to visitors led to such a positive experience in 2019, and we need to look at the lessons from this survey so that when the time is right we can look to regroup and grow the sector again, building on the things which make Shetland so special and so welcoming to visitors.” 

“We know there are plenty of people who are passionate about visiting, and the attractions that make Shetland so appealing will still be here. While there are undoubtedly significant challenges ahead, the 2019 survey provides many reasons to be optimistic that tourism can have a strong future.”

For more information on the Islands Visitor Surveys, please visit: https://www.visitscotland.org/research-insights/regions/shetland