Scotland's marine economic statistics 2018

Statistics on the economic contributions of Scotland’s marine sectors in 2018. Includes a time series of Gross Value Added (GVA), turnover and employment for industrial categories defined as part of the marine sector.

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11. Marine tourism and recreation

11.1 Introduction

In 2018, Marine Scotland developed the methodology for estimating marine tourism and recreation, separately from all tourism. This is based on SABS SIC codes used in the SABS reporting on Sustainable Tourism growth sectors[10] and where businesses are located in postcodes within 100 metres of the coastline. While this may include some businesses that are not marine-related, and not include some that are marine-related, it provides a reasonable and replicable method of estimating the economic contributions of marine tourism and recreation businesses using existing data.  

11.2 Key economic points 

In 2018, marine tourism generated £579 million GVA: accounting for 0.4% of the overall Scottish economy and 13% of the marine economy GVA

The marine tourism industry provided employment for 29,700 people (headcount), contributing 1.1% of the total Scottish employment. It is the biggest marine economy employer accounting for 40% of the marine economy employment. The figures in this report are headcounts so while marine tourism and recreation dominates marine economy employment figures, the full time equivalent employment will be significantly smaller because of the seasonal nature of tourism and recreation and the part time nature of the employment.

Scottish tourism as a whole was estimated to be worth £4.1 billion in GVA in 2018. Thus marine tourism is estimated to account for around 14% of all Scottish tourism, which is similar to the 2017 figure.  

11.3 Marine tourism – trends

From 2017 to 2018, the GVA from marine tourism (adjusted to 2018 prices) decreased by 6%, while the longer term trend from 2009 to 2018 showed that marine tourism GVA increased by 55%.

From 2009 to 2018, employment increased by 22%.  

Table 16: Marine tourism  - GVA, turnover, employment and GVA per head, 2009 to 2018 (2018 prices)
Year GVA Turnover Employment GVA Per Head
£M £M Headcount 000's £
2009 373 780  24.4 15,279
2010 429 868  22.9 18,743
2011 446 910  24.4 18,288
2012 494 978  24.2 20,398
2013 567 1,040  29.3 19,344
2014 593 1,057  26.7 22,219
2015 510 951  29.7 17,157
2016 576 1,071  28.4 20,290
2017 613 1,058  28.2 21,738
2018 579 1,038  29.7 19,498
Figure 18: Marine tourism - GVA and employment (headcount), 2009 to 2018 (2018 prices)
Figure 18 - Chart showing trends from 2009 to 2018 in the marine tourism sector GVA and employment. GVA shown at 2018 prices.

11.4 Marine tourism by geography

The marine tourism economic values were disaggregated to Scottish Marine Regions (attribution by local authority is partially disclosive due to the small quantity of data). While SMRs are geographies that relate to the sea, marine tourism is earned on land and so Figure 19 shows outputs around the coast.

The Clyde region was the largest contributor to marine tourism GVA in 2018 at £160 million (28% of the GVA), and to employment in 2018, (26% of the employment). The Forth and Tay region was the next highest accounting for 26% of the GVA and 24% of the employment.    

Table 17: Marine tourism  - GVA, turnover and employment, by SMR, 2018 
SMR GVA Turnover £M Headcount
£M '000s
Clyde 159.7 299.2 7.8
Forth and Tay 153.3 267.9 7
Moray Firth 73.2 130 3.6
West Highlands 72.4 123.2 3.4
North East 39 69.1 2
Argyll 34.7 63.8 1.8
Solway 18 31.4 1.2
Orkney Islands 11 20.9 0.7
Outer Hebrides 9.1 17.1 0.8
Shetland Isles 4.8 9.6 1
North Coast 3.8 6.2 0.4
Grand Total 579.1 1,038 29.7
Figure 19: Marine tourism GVA and employment by SMR, 2018
Figure 19 - Two maps. The one on the left shows GVA for the marine tourism sector by Scottish Marine Region in 2018. The one on the right shows employment in the marine tourism sector by Scottish Marine Region in 2018.

Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) 2020. Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right

Contact

Email: marineanalysis@gov.scot

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