221125CNPABdPaper2Annex3CairngormsSTAP2023-28

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper 2 Annex 3 25^th Novem­ber 2022

Cairngorms Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Action Plan 2023 – 28

Fore­word Janet Hunter (Deputy Con­vener of CNPA and Chair of Cairngorms Tour­ism Partnership)

[To fol­low]

Intro­duc­tion

The Cairngorms Nation­al Park is the largest Nation­al Park in the UK. Along­side 18,000 human res­id­ents, a quarter of the UK’s threatened spe­cies also call it home. People have vis­ited this spe­cial place for gen­er­a­tions, attrac­ted by the land­scape, wild­life and extens­ive oppor­tun­it­ies for out­door recre­ation. This in turn has sup­por­ted a thriv­ing vis­it­or eco­nomy, the largest employ­ment sec­tor in the Nation­al Park.

Our ambi­tion is for tour­ism to be a force for good, not only in eco­nom­ic terms, but by con­trib­ut­ing to thriv­ing com­munit­ies and mak­ing the Cairngorms a great place to live and work. We want to inspire our vis­it­ors to have great exper­i­ences but also to take action to address the cli­mate and biod­iversity crises, har­ness­ing their love for this place to affect pos­it­ive change.

Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan and Stra­tegic Context

This doc­u­ment is the Action Plan for 2023 – 2028, and it sits with­in the wider con­text of the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2022 — 2027 which acts as the over­arch­ing Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Strategy. Launched in August 2022 the Part­ner­ship Plan sets out how all those with a respons­ib­il­ity for the Nation­al Park will coordin­ate their work to tackle the most import­ant issues in the peri­od from 2022 – 27. The Plan sets out the vis­ion and over­arch­ing strategy for man­aging the Nation­al Park and guides the work of all pub­lic bod­ies and oth­er part­ners to deliv­er the aims of the Nation­al Park and con­trib­ute to nation­al pro­grammes of work set out by Scot­tish Ministers.

The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA) and the Cairngorms Busi­ness Part­ner­ship have both signed the Glas­gow Declar­a­tion on Cli­mate Action on Tour­ism and the Part­ner­ship Plan is our cli­mate action plan for the des­tin­a­tion. Fur­ther inform­a­tion is at https://​www​.unw​to​.org/​t​h​e​-​g​l​a​s​g​o​w​-​d​e​c​l​a​r​a​t​i​o​n​-​o​n​-​c​l​i​m​a​t​e​-​a​c​t​i​o​n​-​i​n​-​t​o​urism

The doc­u­ment is arranged in three sec­tions: Nature, People and Place, with each sec­tion set­ting out the out­come that we want to achieve by 2045, the year Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment has com­mit­ted to achiev­ing net zero). Each of these sec­tions is sup­por­ted by a set of Object­ives, Actions for the next five years and a com­pre­hens­ive set of Policies.

The actions with­in the Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Action Plan add value to the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan, and set out the con­tri­bu­tion of the wider tour­ism industry to deliv­ery of par­tic­u­larly rel­ev­ant Object­ives. In devel­op­ing the Plan, we have also con­sidered how we can con­trib­ute to Scot­land Out­look 2030, the nation­al tour­ism strategy.

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper 2 Annex 3 25^th Novem­ber 2022

The deliv­ery of this Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Action Plan is co-ordin­ated by the Cairngorms Tour­ism Part­ner­ship which brings togeth­er key busi­nesses, agen­cies involved in tour­ism, com­munity rep­res­ent­at­ives and the private sec­tor des­tin­a­tion organ­isa­tions that cov­er the Park (includ­ing Cairngorms Busi­ness Part­ner­ship, Vis­it Aber­deen­shire and Vis­it Moray-Spey­side, etc). It is one of a range of advis­ory for­ums for the Nation­al Park.

Along­side this Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Action Plan sits a Stra­tegic Tour­ism Infra­struc­ture Plan that sets out a stra­tegic approach to invest­ment in, and main­ten­ance of, tour­ism and vis­it­or infra­struc­ture in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. The Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2021 will guide the form of any built devel­op­ment and ensure it is the right place. The Well­being Eco­nomy Action Plan (still in devel­op­ment) will pro­mote an eco­nomy that works for all the people of the Cairngorms.

European Charter for Sus­tain­able Tour­ism in Pro­tec­ted Areas

The European Charter for Sus­tain­able Tour­ism in Pro­tec­ted Areas is a prac­tic­al man­age­ment tool that enables Nation­al Parks and oth­er pro­tec­ted areas to devel­op and man­age tour­ism sus­tain­ably. It is based on five Principles:

1. Giv­ing pri­or­ity to protection
2. Con­trib­ut­ing to sus­tain­able development
3. Enga­ging all stakeholders
4. Plan­ning sus­tain­able tour­ism effectively
5. Pur­su­ing con­tinu­ous improvement

The Charter is about bring­ing people togeth­er, provid­ing them with a frame­work to work col­lab­or­at­ively towards becom­ing a sus­tain­able des­tin­a­tion, with extern­al veri­fic­a­tion and recog­ni­tion of our work in this area. There is more inform­a­tion about the Charter here https://​www​.euro​parc​.org/​s​u​s​t​a​i​n​a​b​l​e​-​t​o​u​rism/.

The Cairngorms Nation­al Park has been accred­ited with the Charter since 2005, shortly after des­ig­na­tion as a Nation­al Park. Every five years we sub­mit a new Strategy and Action Plan for Sus­tain­able Tour­ism, while also look­ing back on deliv­ery over the pre­vi­ous 5‑year period.

Tour­ism in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park

Vis­it­or num­bers have seen steady growth since Nation­al Park des­ig­na­tion in 2003. In 2019, the Cairngorms received an estim­ated 2 mil­lion vis­it­ors for the first time. Along­side that, vis­it­or sat­is­fac­tion rates had also climbed with an aver­age sat­is­fac­tion score of over ⁹⁄₁₀. Vis­it­ors were also more likely to be attrac­ted by Nation­al Park status, with 55% say­ing that it was an import­ant factor in their decision to vis­it. Although most vis­it­ors were repeat cus­tom­ers, there was an increase in both first-time and over­seas visitors.

The Cov­id-19 pan­dem­ic changed everything. We worked, in com­mon with des­tin­a­tions around the world, to address the twin chal­lenges of the sud­den col­lapse of the vis­it­or eco­nomy, and then increased post-lock­down foot­fall at key coun­tryside sites. In the Cairngorms this led to a range of issues includ­ing more traffic and park­ing con­ges­tion, toi­let­ing prob­lems and high levels of inform­al camp­ing. This promp­ted us to estab­lish a

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper 2 Annex 3 25^th Novem­ber 2022

range of new meas­ures such as the estab­lish­ment of a Man­aging for Vis­it­ors Group and a dir­ectly man­aged CNPA Ranger Service.

As the recov­ery peri­od pro­gresses, busi­ness sur­veys show that a num­ber of wider factors are still chal­len­ging the tour­ism industry. Staff­ing and recruit­ment issues con­tin­ue to prove very chal­len­ging after the loss of hos­pit­al­ity staff dur­ing the Cov­id-19 crisis the lim­ited avail­ab­il­ity of afford­able hous­ing. Con­cerns around Cov­id-19 have not com­pletely dis­ap­peared but are now over­shad­owed by con­sumer con­cern about the cost-of-liv­ing and energy prices. Infla­tion­ary pres­sures are also caus­ing dir­ect issues for busi­nesses, with a sig­ni­fic­ant dip in medi­um-long term con­fid­ence – in mid-2022 around 8% of busi­nesses say they are con­sid­er­ing ceas­ing to trade. (Source: Cairngorms Busi­ness Barometer)

Along­side these issues there is the very sig­ni­fic­ant back­drop of the cli­mate and biod­iversity crisis which are the main themes addressed in the Part­ner­ship Plan. As vis­it­ors return to the Park, we need to help them change their travel habits to reduce car­bon emis­sions and inspire them to care for this spe­cial place.

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper 2 Annex 3 25^th Novem­ber 2022

Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Action Plan

In deliv­er­ing the actions below, all of which will help to deliv­er the NP Part­ner­ship Plan, there are two over­arch­ing priorities:

1. Busi­nesses, vis­it­ors and wider stake­hold­ers should be engaged in the jour­ney to Net Zero and nature recovery
2. Com­munit­ies and loc­al res­id­ents should be involved in tour­ism decision-mak­ing where it affects them.

NATURE

Deliv­er­ing against NPPP Object­ives: Al Net Zero; A13 Spe­cies Recovery

Deliv­er­ing against Scot­land Out­look 2030: Des­tin­a­tion Net Zero

ACTIONS	Lead Part­ners
Encour­age vis­it­or invest­ment in the Nation­al Park through vis­it­or-giv­ing, car­bon off­set schemes and oth­er incent­ives, con­nect­ing vis­it­ors with the place through fin­an­cial and emo­tion­al buy-in.	Cairngorms Trust, CNPA, CBP
Devel­op and imple­ment a busi­ness – led Cli­mate Action Plan that engages busi­nesses in oppor­tun­it­ies to lower their car­bon footprint.	CBP
Invest­ig­ate tech­no­lo­gic­al solu­tions to engage vis­it­ors and nudge them towards respons­ible choices in a way that enhances their exper­i­ence of the destination.	CNPA, Vis­itScot­land
Devel­op a pro­gramme that sup­ports busi­ness engage­ment with cus­tom­ers in advance of their vis­it, includ­ing inform­a­tion about biod­iversity and respons­ible enjoyment.	CBP, CNPA

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper 2 Annex 3 25^th Novem­ber 2022

PEOPLE

Deliv­er­ing against NPPP Object­ives: B2 Well­being Eco­nomy; B4 Skills & Train­ing; B5 Com­munity Assets & Land; B8 Gael­ic Lan­guage & Cul­ture; B10 A Park for All

Deliv­er­ing against Scot­land Out­look 2030: Our Pas­sion­ate People; Our Diverse Businesses

ACTIONS	Lead Part­ners
Sup­port, encour­age and pro­mote com­munity-led tour­ism enter­prises and devel­op a com­munity tour­ism net­work for the Park.	VABS, SCOTO, СВР
Mon­it­or res­id­ents’ atti­tudes to tour­ism in their com­munity through reg­u­lar sur­veys and inform­al open meetings.	CNPA
Strengthen loc­al cul­tur­al events through vis­it­or engage­ment with Gael­ic and oth­er loc­al lan­guages, music, storytelling and built heritage.	CNPA, CBP
Identi­fy meas­ures and sup­port needed to encour­age Fair Work prac­tices and a well­being eco­nomy in the tour­ism industry.	CNPА, СВР
Pro­mote the Cairngorms as an excep­tion­al des­tin­a­tion to work in the hos­pit­al­ity industry and devel­op a train­ing ini­ti­at­ive to strengthen links between loc­al schools / fur­ther & high­er edu­ca­tion organ­isa­tions and the hos­pit­al­ity sector.	CBP, HIE/SE, SDS
Review and refresh the ​“Make it Yours” busi­ness engage­ment pro­gramme to ensure it meets the needs of our part­ners and informs and inspires front­line staff.	CNPA, CBP
Encour­age a more diverse range of vis­it­ors to the Cairngorms by address­ing bar­ri­ers iden­ti­fied by under-rep­res­en­ted groups and people from a wide range of socio-eco­nom­ic back­grounds, and sup­port­ing front­line tour­ism staff training.	CNPA
Engage with stake­hold­ers to ensure that Scot­tish Government’s pro­pos­als for a Loc­al Vis­it­or Levy, meet the needs of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.	CNPA, loc­al authorities

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper 2 Annex 3 25^th Novem­ber 2022

PLACE

Deliv­er­ing against NPPP Object­ives: CI Access to Hous­ing: C5 Vis­it­ors to the Nation­al Park; C6 A Sus­tain­able Des­tin­a­tion; C8 Access­ible Path and Cycle Net­work; C9 High-qual­ity vis­it­or experience

Deliv­er­ing against Scot­land Out­look 2030: Our Thriv­ing Places; Our Mem­or­able Experiences

ACTIONS	Lead Part­ners
Pro­duce a Stra­tegic Tour­ism Infra­struc­ture Plan that defines the pri­or­it­ies for invest­ment in tour­ism infra­struc­ture for the next 5 years and seek addi­tion­al fund­ing for delivery.	CNPA, Vis­itScot­land
Mon­it­or the imple­ment­a­tion of the new Short Term Let (STL) licen­cing arrange­ments and the devel­op­ment of meas­ures such the STL Con­trol Areas and ensure that we main­tain an appro­pri­ate range of accom­mod­a­tion for visitors	Loc­al Author­it­ies, CNPA
Pro­mote and invest in tour­ism assets pro­duced by pre­vi­ous place-based ini­ti­at­ives — includ­ing Badenoch Story­lands, SnowRoads Scen­ic Route, Tomin­toul and Glen­liv­et Dark Sky Park, Cat­er­an Eco-museum, the Spey­side Way and Deeside Way.	CBP, CNPA & VisitScotland
Sup­port devel­op­ment of new products and events to encour­age vis­its at quieter times of year, par­tic­u­larly through the winter months. Com­mis­sion des­tin­a­tion mar­ket­ing cam­paigns to foster growth at tra­di­tion­ally quieter times of year and to encour­age longer stays, with increased value to the loc­al economy.	CNPA, CBP
Devel­op and imple­ment mech­an­isms to reduce dis­turb­ance on key spe­cies and recre­ation­al impacts on high ground	CNPA, NatureScot, Ranger Services
Devel­op oppor­tun­it­ies for busi­nesses to use their loc­a­tion in a Nation­al Park to build sus­tain­able growth through brand­ing, product devel­op­ment and tar­geted marketing.	CИРА, СВР
Build on the part­ner­ship struc­tures and policies developed in response to the Cov­id-19 lock­downs as a mod­el for resi­li­ence against future uncertainty.	CNPA

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper 2 Annex 3 25^th Novem­ber 2022

Mon­it­or­ing and Review

A com­pre­hens­ive pro­gramme of work is being set out to mon­it­or the deliv­ery of the Actions in the NP Part­ner­ship Plan. The mon­it­or­ing and review of this Action Plan will be closely tied this work and led by CNPA officers with con­tri­bu­tions from all rel­ev­ant stake­hold­ers. The Cairngorms Tour­ism Part­ner­ship will over­see deliv­ery of the Action Plan and a form­al report will be taken, at least annu­ally, to the CNPA Board.

CNPA

Novem­ber 2022

[Add for pub­lic­a­tion: List of Acronyms]