Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan
Launched in 2017, Glasgow Tourism and Visitor Plan to 2023 is the framework for the city’s tourism ambitions.
Glasgow is a successful tourism destination and it is our ambition to grow the economy by increasing overnight leisure tourism visits delivering an associated spend of £771 million to the city’s economy.
To deliver this target, Glasgow’s biggest opportunity for growth has been identified as leisure tourism. Glasgow is Scotland’s cultural powerhouse. As a UNESCO City of Music and one of the world’s top five sporting cities, Glasgow is home to world-class museums, galleries and attractions; a rich architectural heritage and a thriving and diverse food and drink scene. Its outstanding programme of events and festivals is recognised globally and the city is a first-choice destination for more than two million tourists every year.
We will prioritise positioning Glasgow’s cultural tourism offer in key UK and international markets. Overseas visitors also come to see the best of Scotland, so Glasgow will position itself as the ‘Gateway to Scotland’ to stimulate total tourist numbers and spend.
Undeniably, at the heart of the city’s success are its people. Glaswegians are renowned the world over for their friendliness, kindness, warm welcome and good humour.
With an ambitious Tourism and Visitor Plan, Glasgow will continue to strengthen its global reputation in the years to come as a vibrant, culturally-rich destination with an unrivalled visitor experience and world-class customer service.
The revised strategic approach until 2023 is based on the mid-term review and the new national tourism strategy Scotland Outlook 2030 and identifies four strategic priorities:
- Sharing our cultural city
- Developing innovative and competitive products and services
- Supporting seamless journeys [wayfinding, ease of navigation, bookability, accessibility]
- Building on events [by encouraging visitors to stay longer and explore the city]
Strong partnership working and collaboration across public and private sector stakeholders as well as academia is key to the delivery of the plan.
business tourism
Business events are crucial to maintaining the city’s tourism industry and reinforcing the city’s economic strengths. Glasgow is one of Europe’s most successful conference locations, hosting more international delegates than any other UK city outside London. The city welcomes over 150,000 delegates, attending over 500 conferences, worth £140m in economic benefit to the city from delegate spend annually. With a focus on key sectors and the growth of the city’s ambassador programme, we will build on the city’s business tourism credentials and grow our calendar of UK and International conferences.
events
Glasgow is one of the world’s top five cities for hosting sporting events, the world’s leading Festival and Event’s Destination and Scotland’s cultural and sporting centre, home to the largest annual cultural offer and largest sporting infrastructure outside of London.
Our calendar of regular events and roster of major international sport events provide a significant platform to promote the city on a global stage.
