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VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highland and Islands Enterprise are working closely with the industry and partners to boost current activity and also identify new and emerging opportunities to maximise the economic and other benefits of all aspects of tourism to Scotland, this includes ancestral, eco, outdoor activity, food and drink and cultural aspects.

Cultural messages are woven through VisitScotland’s core marketing campaigns and press activity including the new year-round domestic Surprise Yourself campaign, the Meet the Scots campaign and My Scotland. The cultural messages in all marketing activity will be greatly expanded during 2012 to maximise the opportunities offered by the Year of Creative Scotland and the Scottish events in the Cultural Olympiad. This activity will position Scotland as a creatively vibrant country and as a world-class cultural tourism destination.

Currently VisitScotland does not provide an official forecast in tourism numbers or revenue for Scotland. A forecast of inbound tourism is published and updated by VisitBritain, however, providing a short and longer term picture of tourism trips and value for the UK. As a general measure these figures can also be applied to Scotland.

Respondents reported generally similar numbers of UK visitors between this spring season and last.

These forecasts are dependent on normal trading circumstances prevailing and do not factor in unexpected shocks caused by terrorism, health scares or other crises.

Details on the above forecasts can be found at:

http://www.visitbritain.org/insightsandstatistics/trendsandforecasts/forecasts.aspx .

VisitScotland does produce several “Seasonal Snapshots” annually, giving anecdotal evidence from the industry on how the tourist season is progressing, and their thoughts on the coming months. The 2011 Spring/Summer Snapshot showed over 50% of respondents rated the 2011 spring season as either “good” or “excellent”, with 66% of respondents either “quite confident” or “very confident” about the coming summer season.

Full details of the snapshot can be found at:

http://www.visitscotland.org/research_and_statistics/trends_and_insights/seasonal_snapshot.aspx.

VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highland and Islands Enterprise are working closely with the industry and partners to boost current activity and also identify new and emerging opportunities to maximise the economic and other benefits of all aspects of tourism to Scotland, this includes ancestral, eco, outdoor activity, food and drink and cultural aspects.

VisitScotland and partners continually promote Scotland as a place of outstanding natural beauty with a landscape and biodiversity to enjoy responsibly, through extensive international, national and local marketing campaigns. The Year of Natural Scotland in 2013, a Homecoming Legacy year, will turn the spotlight onto our natural assets aiming to further enhance our reputation in this area.

VisitScotland’s extensive successful international and domestic campaigns and its work with private and public sector partners across tourism, focus on drawing visitors to experience all that Scotland has to offer. Over the next few years we will build further momentum, continuing to raise the profile of Scotland through a programme of focus years, highlighting some of our greatest assets (2011 Year of Active Scotland, 2012 Year of Creative Scotland, 2013, Year of Natural Scotland), leading up to 2014 when Scotland will welcome the world with the Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup and our Homecoming celebrations.

The following table shows the approved funding per head of population in each Regional Proposal Assessment Committee (RPAC) region. It should be noted that certain regions, particularly Clyde and Forth, contain large urban areas; therefore rural development funding per capita is consequentially lower.

Population figures are from Mid-2010 Population Estimates Scotland, published on 27 April 2011 by the General Registers of Scotland:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/population-estimates/mid-2010/mid-year-pop-est-2010.pdf.

Details of which councils are in each RPAC area are available on the Rural Priorities website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/SRDP/RuralPriorities/WhatRegion.

The following table shows the number of approved cases per year. This includes cases where the offer of a contract has been rejected by the applicant, and cases where the applicant has not yet returned a signed contract.

The Scottish Government will consider proposals for a new Scottish Land Fund as part of the wider spending review.

The £4 million Enterprise Growth Fund will open to applications from third sector organisations on 29 August 2011. All funds will be fully allocated by the end of January 2012. Applications will be accepted until all of the funding has been allocated.

Just Enterprise will provide an ongoing programme of business development support to third sector organisations until 31 March 2014. Just Enterprise works closely with the network of third sector interfaces, Business Gateway, Scottish Enterprise and HIE to provide a comprehensive package of support to third sector organisations.

The contract to administer the £4 million Enterprise Growth Fund has been awarded to a consortium led by the Wise Group. Successful applicants to the Fund will receive their funding in instalments.

The Just Enterprise programme provides access to a free business support programme to enterprising third sector organisations in Scotland. The contract to deliver Just Enterprise has been awarded to a consortium led by CEiS.

The Enterprise Growth Fund provides direct investment to third sector organisations to help ensure their long-term sustainability. This may include funding support towards employment costs, depending on the requirements of the applicant organisation. The fund will not support redundancy costs.

Just Enterprise provides business development support and advice to help enterprising third sector organisations move towards increased growth and/or financial sustainability. The support provided will be tailored to the individual needs of each organisation, and will include access to specialist advice if required.