Farm stays could be Edinburgh Festival tourism relief valve, Tories claim

Encouraging tourists to stay on farms could act as a “relief mechanism” during the Edinburgh Festival, the Scottish Conservatives have suggested.

The proposal is part of the party’s new policy paper on agritourism, aimed at boosting growth in this type of tourism.

The document states: “Agritourism could act as a ‘relief mechanism’ during high season in many cities, such as August in Edinburgh.

“Rural accommodation could provide new experiences to tourists, who otherwise would have chosen city centre accommodation.”

The policy paper claims the current agritourism industry north of the border is “disorganised and decentralised”.

It also highlights the uneven distribution of tourism income across Scotland, with the cities attracting double the number of visitors of rural areas.

In 2017, 2.3 million tourists visited the countryside or villages in Scotland while 5.5 million went to cities or large towns, according to Visit Britain statistics.

The policy paper states: “Scottish cities have large draws for tourists, from festivals to restaurants to the idea of visiting cities that are renowned for their culture.

“A dedicated effort to expanding agritourism would rectify this.”

Recommendations in the paper include setting a universal term to describe agritourism, reviewing the sector and creating a national body to oversee agritourism in Scotland with a centralised rating and quality control scheme.

The Tories also want to set up a rural agritourism start up fund, develop apprenticeship qualifications for this type of tourism and encourage business models which promote environmentalism and tackle climate change.

Rachael Hamilton, the party’s tourism spokeswoman, said: “Agritourism forms part of the rural economy in many countries across the world.

“Scotland has massive potential to make a success story of agritourism, with so much to offer from excellent food and drink experiences to our dramatic and captivating landscapes.

“Helping farmers develop their farm business further, and in turn boosting the rural economy of Scotland, is vitally important.

“Our policy paper sets out key recommendations that the Scottish government and the sector should act upon in order to grow the sector.”