Why do people come to Scotland? Whisky, golf, castles… midges?  All of the above… (well, maybe not the last). But what's missing?  

People come to Scotland to walk. 

They walk in our forests and mountains, on our great trails, and along our shores, lochs and rivers.  They do it in big numbers and they spend a lot of money. 

 

What’s walking worth?  

More than half of European visitors go for a hill walk or a hike when they are here, with the Dutch topping the league, with two-thirds of their visitors walking while in Scotland. Long-haul tourists are much the same. Overall, ten times more visitors go for a hill walk than play golf. 

Walking’s value to the economy is huge – several billions of pounds annually by some estimates.    

So, walking is a major driver of our economic prosperity, especially in some of Scotland's most fragile rural areas. 

That's undoubtedly of interest to Scotland's Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, as she prepares to host a major summit on visitor management in Aviemore this week.  With her lead role in government for the nation's economy, coupled with her constituency in the west and central Highlands, the DFM will be acutely aware of the benefits on offer. 

But, as with any prized economic asset, the benefits are only fully realised if you invest in that opportunity. 

Scotland is such an attractive destination for outdoor recreation because our world-class access rights – which turn 20 this year - open up our countryside in a way that people in most other European countries can only dream of.

However, to make those access rights a reality for all, we need more people on the ground, in local authorities, national parks and other organisations who are prepared to uphold those rights. We must reverse the worrying trend of key roles like access officers and rangers being lost or spread too thin, due to budgets being pared back. 

And when people come to enjoy our wonderful outdoor spaces, we need an infrastructure that supports them. Not just the paths, signs and bridges, important though these are. But the transport - public, active and car parking - that is needed; toilets and waste facilities in the most pressured hotspots; and much more promotion of the rights and responsibilities of both visitors and landholders. 

 

Funding walking in future 

That is why Ramblers Scotland has been responding to local authority consultations on proposals for visitor levies, perhaps more commonly known as a ‘tourist tax’.

We’re making the case that some of the money raised must be recycled back into the infrastructure which supports outdoor activities like walking, which in turn attracts so many visitors. And that is only part of the picture. 

As Scotland moves towards a new post-Brexit way of supporting farming, it's important that access to countryside is recognised as one of the public benefits that the land provides. That means making support for access a key condition for farming payments, and retaining funding for landowners to improve access, through revival of the former Improving Public Access grants.  

The same applies for forestry. The days of forest owners getting public subsidy to blanket-plant open land and then lock gates must be ended. 

And with new energy infrastructure too:  when new turbines, storage facilities and transmission lines are planned, protecting and improving public access must be a much bigger part of the energy firms’ community investments.  

There's much more besides, including private money ,as well as public.  

 

Modest investment, huge rewards 

But the overall message is simple: walking and Scotland's outdoors are multi-billion pound assets - for residents and visitors alike. We must invest in that asset.  

The amount of investment needed is modest and some of it could be drawn from existing or potential funding. 

I'm sure our savvy Deputy First Minister gets all that. And she gets the health as well as economic benefits on offer.  

So, let's get on with working together to make that happen.