THERE were lots of good ideas swirling around the magnificent main chamber at the City Chambers a couple of Tuesdays back, as a panel debate began to unfold about Edinburgh’s tourism challenges.
And in many ways, the diversity of opinion - among the panellists and including the audience - reflected the patchwork of opinions I encounter in my job on an almost daily basis.
One person’s welcoming of new jobs in the tourism, hospitality or construction sectors is often another’s frustration, perhaps even anger, with crowded pavements and property prices rising ever higher .
The event - hosted by heritage body, The Cockburn Association, as part of a wider Festival of Europe Scotland - heard of residents taking to the streets, particularly in Spain, demonstrating against the impact of high visitor numbers on local infrastructure and the ability to rent or buy an affordable home.
It also heard how places such as Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, are trying to influence the type of tourist (and their behaviour) choosing to visit their town or city.
It was as fascinating as it was wide-ranging.
Positively, over the next few years, I have no reason to believe that visitor numbers to our city (from both abroad and the rest of the UK) will abate any time soon. Even though we have challenges with rising costs, the direction of travel seems to me to be inevitable.
Already, Edinburgh is estimated to be the ninth-busiest tourist destination in the world- in terms of the number of tourists versus the number of locals (as noted on BuildEdinburgh, here).
That is inevitably going to throw up new challenges and exacerbate already-existing ones.
But rise to these different challenges the city must, not least in how it conducts public-facing, grown-up debate as to what to do next. The difficulty is that there are so many moving parts to the tourism question.
The reassurance for local people is that what is usually ‘good’ for tourists is also ‘good’ for them. And vice versa, of course.
Our tourism growth has driven new and fantastic assets for residents to enjoy such as the St James Quarter, the Johnnie Walker Experience, Gleneagles Townhouse, Edinburgh Grand and the raft of new hotels, bars and restaurant venues across the city.
The number of our residents employed in retail and hospitality is rising, bucking trends elsewhere.
If a vennel, close or Princes Street is improved because of tourism, that’s going to be good for all of us.
There’s been a huge amount of private investment recently in Edinburgh’s city centre - an estimated £3bn over the last ten years.
On Princes Street alone, not only is there the ongoing refurbishment of Jenners department store - into hotel, retail and hospitality space, there are Ruby and Zedwell hotels being built and a fantastic Chris Stewart Group development on the corner of Shandwick Place - all products of the tourism sector.
Not only does that represent employment and supply chain opportunities for the local economy, it can also mean the preservation of the city’s heritage (witness the recent approval, at the second time of asking, of a hotel plan for the Rose Street Theatre, which was otherwise facing increasing deterioration).
Often, a building refurbishment or new-build spills over into pavement and other urban realm improvements.
Perhaps that relationship between private investment and city benefit could be better articulated, if not standardised, albeit we now have in place a set levy being charged for overnight stays by visitors, the proceeds of which are already beginning to fund physical ‘improvements’ to the city.
The city’s tourism strategy - and its commitment to sustainability, fair work and ‘net-zero carbon emissions’ targets is a strategy aimed at managed growth.
We have developed a world-class tourism product that is a key economic driver for the city.
We cannot take this for granted and must work collectively as a city to support this managed growth while addressing challenges this growth will have on the city.
The world’s economy is certainly not stable, and we need to continue to invest and support the tourism sector in uncertain times.
Tourism is here to stay (pardon the pun) and we should be proud that Edinburgh is considered attractive enough for people to want to visit, spending both time and money. It means we are doing some things right.
What we need, however, is continued communication between business, resident and heritage groups and not be scared of the tough conversations.
Tourism and its impacts on the city have been a success story over the last decade, we need to support the managed growth over the next decade, ensuring the benefits for residents, business and our visitors are plain for all to see.
Roddy Smith is chief executive of the city centre ‘business improvement district’, Essential Edinburgh.
Image details: copyright Mike Wilson