North Coast 500 is perfect ‘shop window’ to north Highlands
North Coast 500: Ten Years On – David Richardson says that tourism is vital to the north Highlands, and the NC500 has helped sustain the sector
From my first day at the helm of Sutherland Tourist Board in March 1988 it was obvious that tourism has a fundamental role to play in the north Highland economy and sustainability of its communities.
Thirty-seven years on, this reality has grown in importance. Yes, of course the economy is mixed and there’s more to life than tourism, but does any industry touch more people more positively?
For tourism brings much needed income to innumerable households in the north, whether it be through full or part-time work, and it enables many locals and their children to live here rather than being forced to leave. And tourism sustains the shops, inns, restaurants, cafes, craft producers and trades that make life so satisfying for both locals and incomers.
Recognising this, and that the north Highlands was not benefiting from tourism as much as other parts of the region, led directly to the creation of the North Coast 500 in May 2015, something that followed two years of discussion between the North Highland Initiative, local tourism organisations, Highland Council, VisitScotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Established to draw more people north and west of Inverness, in 2018 alone it attracted an additional £13.46 million in sales for businesses on or near the route, bringing some £22.89 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) and creating around 179 full-time equivalent jobs.
But the NC500 is not a do-it-once-and-move-on attraction. Many people do it within the time available to them, fall in love with certain parts, and return in future to explore in more detail. Quite simply, it is our shop window.
We are currently seeking funds to commission a new economic, social and environmental impact assessment to help assess its value and inform businesses and communities about future opportunities, but the importance of the NC500 is obvious.
More on the North Coast 500:
• LISTEN: North Coast 500: Ten Years On – benefits and challenges as route marks 10th anniversary
• 10 YEARS OF THE NC500: What impact has it had?
• Cycling the North Coast 500 was a real achievement
Ask Jack Marris of the Applecross Gallery, whose whole team is under 35 years old, or Alex Munro and Debbie Lockhart of Oldshoremore Croft Cabins, who are creating a new business for themselves and their children, or Martin Murray of Dunnet Bay Distillers, whose £6 million transformation of the Castletown Mill into a new distillery would not be happening without it, or Ewan Chisholm of Dornoch’s Highland Larder… just a few of the many entrepreneurial people trying to make a go of things on the back of the opportunities that the NC500 has created.
Of course, there are pros and cons to everything and success, as measured by vibrant businesses and communities with lots of young people and stable or growing populations, means maximising the benefits and overcoming the problems. But while there are obvious issues requiring attention, talk of “overtourism” throughout the 6000 square miles or so encompassed by the NC500 is simply wrong.
Above all, tourism and the NC500 cannot be taken for granted and, sadly, both are currently under threat from the voices of dissension coming from some residents and picked up by the national media.
Here’s a quote from Fran Cree, a weel-kent face in Wester Ross tourism: “I am horrified at the adverse and unjustified criticism of the route and would say that my own little letting business would collapse without the benefit of NC500. As you know, I have been in tourism in the Gairloch area for 35 years now, and visitor numbers are much reduced since the halcyon days of the 1990s… NC500 is the single marketing initiative which has kept the visitors coming to the far north.”
We can’t put clocks back, but we can manage things better by working together to sustain businesses, communities and the environment.
• David Richardson in the development and engagement manager for North Coast 500 Ltd.
