Scotland is a popular tourist destination, and widely considered a remarkably beautiful country, with people who, despite a reputation for being on the rough-and-tumble side, are quite kind.
In fact, Scotland’s well-deserved reputation for offering warm welcomes and incredible scenery has earned it the number-two position in the Rough Guides list of best countries in the world to visit in 2017.
Quite a few people visit Scotland every year, and apparently a lot of them are going there to eat and drink.
While many people probably don’t imagine Scottish cuisine as being all that much of a draw, the country is known for its whisky, so maybe that makes more sense. Split opinions about haggis aside, the Scottish tourism industry has expanded by 11 percent over the last 12 months. Some 217,000 Scots are working in the tourism sector, and about 83 percent of them work in hospitality, which added 21,000 new jobs last year on it’s own. Restaurants alone make up about 40 percent of the entire tourism sector.
Restaurants, pubs, and clubs are a big draw for people visiting the country, perhaps hoping to get a taste of an atmosphere that is hard to replicate elsewhere. Regardless of the reason behind it, dining out is good for Scotland’s economy, especially in smaller coastal towns that don’t have much in the way of industry. These are the kinds of small towns that people tend to want to visit when they go to a place like Scotland, because they’re so, well, Scottish.
Edinburgh and other big cities are certainly a draw, but small towns have a more relaxing appeal, and most people don’t want to worry about cooking when they’re on vacation.
All of this is good news for Scotland, which situates tourism in the heart of its economic future. Tourism, international or otherwise, is a big part of the Scottish economy, and it’s a way to keep people employed when they might otherwise be struggling to find work.