Scotland plans new drive for tourism

VisitScotland, the former Scottish Tourist Board, has been allocated £5.5m by the Scottish Executive to fund marketing campaigns to boost tourism in the wake of foot-and-mouth.

The executive said in June it was setting aside £10m to help rural communities recover from the outbreak, and has now decided more than half of this should go towards attracting tourists.

While no firm decisions have been made on where the money is to be spent, VisitScotland's initial priorities were to target the golfing, genealogy and outdoor activities markets and establish better links with airlines, said a spokesman.

"This money is not for compensation for individual businesses. We have been told it is for marketing campaigns and, at the end of the day, we are not a compensatory body. We are not here to give handouts," he added.

Dumfries & Galloway, one of the areas hardest hit by foot-and-mouth, is to get a further £850,000 from the executive, and the Borders region will be awarded £240,000. Farmers will receive £2.5m.

VisitScotland was previously given £5m by the executive in April, which had to be spent by the end of June.