Long-term support needed as Scots tourism faces bleaker winter

If there's the ideal time to replicate the overcrowding and low-back-up of the previous year and look hopefully to the future, it's the festive break.

I look back to when we had tourism, catering, and our supply chain facing the bitter reality of having a second lost Christmas last year; Omicron's arrival disrupted trade and caused trade losses and a significant erosion in Profit in our sector.

December is a crucial time for the sector to buy and sell, and many firms spend a third of their earnings by this point of the year.

Instead, our sector headed into 2022 after losing its most important annual trading period, a period that would have been cushioned against corporate finances by our extraordinarily tortuous trading year.

We are all in search of high quality which is worth it, if we decide for leisure.

There are several factors linked to the crisis that our industry is facing that need to be addressed, and a number of fiscal levers that, if applied now, considerably eases the burden on the enterprises in our sector.

With the increased cost of living, there is more expectation of special experiences from today's visitors. Remember that 70 per cent of leisure visitors into Scotland come from their home market, and every penny of every one of today's UK households is a prisoner.