Case Study: Arran, Scotland Flashcards
What is the situation in Arran?
Arran has been a tourist destination since the 1800s, but island incomes have remained low and seasonal.
There are few visitors between October and April each year.
Picture postcards from the 1960s show what the island offered then: a wilderness experience well suited for walking holidays.
Visitors – typically from family groups, holidayed for weeks at a time in cheap self-catering accommodation.
How was it portrayed?
In the past, the local tourist board promoted Arran using the slogan ‘Scotland in Miniature’, suggesting that the island’s diverse geology, soils and vegetation mirrored Scotland as a whole.
Arriving by ferry into Brodick, families would climb the mountain of Goat Fell, watch for wild deer and golden eagles, or explore important geological features like Hutton’s unconformity.
Why was it hard for development to occur?
As recently as the 1990s, there were few all-weather indoor visitor attractions, and only Brodick Castle remained open in winter.
Some restaurants and shops closed at summer’s end, weakening the multiplier effect tourism brings.
Why was their a decline in visitors?
To make matters worse, visitor numbers fell sharply after the 1980s due to:
The availability of budget flights ad cheap European holidays in sunnier climates (in contrast to the frequently wet Arran weather brought by Atlantic frontal activity)
The high costs of staying in Arran (a vicious circle - when tourist income falls, hotels often raise prices)
Who were some key players in the rebooting of the tourism there?
The whisky distillery at Lochranza.
Auchrannie hotel spa resort.
VisitScotland awarded £32,000 to Arran businesses to develop and fund rebranding using online advertising of island attractions.
What were the key aims of the rebranding?
Employ a PR company Develop a brand identity Maintain a new website Produce a new tourist passport Introduce the new slogan Maintain an island-wide customer data-base
Positive outcomes of the rebranding?
Lots of newspapers and television shows reported the rebranding of Arran including the BBC.
Easter 2008 was recorded one of the busiest on record.
The value of the tourism has increased and was predicted to reach £35 million by 2010.
Large numbers of jobs have been created
Negative outcomes of the rebranding?
Not everyone was happy with the change in direction for island tourism.
People prefer quietness
Make up some more
Where is Arran?
Arran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland.
