Scottish Household Survey: Tourism Sentiment, 2025

Perceptions of visitor pressure

In 2025, 8% of adults in Scotland agreed visitors were putting too much pressure on their local area (2% strongly agreed; 6% tended to agree) while around half (55%) disagreed (34% strongly disagreed; 21% tended to disagree). 11% neither agreed nor disagreed and 20% said it was not applicable to them.

Respondents in rural areas (13%) (Table 5), particularly island areas (39%) (Table 7), were more likely than the Scotland average (8%) to agree visitors were putting too much pressure on their local area.

Similarly, perceptions varied by local authority area (Table 6), with the highest levels of agreement recorded in Orkney Islands (48%), Highland (32%), Shetland Islands (31%) and Na h-Eileanan Siar (31%).

Figure 3 shows the proportion of those that agreed visitors were putting too much pressure on their local area by local authority area. The data have been grouped into six categories to reflect the distribution of responses across local authority areas. Areas with the highest levels of agreement are shown in the darkest blue, while those with the lowest levels are shown in light grey.

Figure 3:  The highest levels of perceived visitor pressure were reported in Orkney Islands, Highland, Shetland Islands and Na h-Eileanan Siar

Percentage of adults agreeing visitors are putting too much pressure on their local area, local authority areas, 2025