Chamber and committees

Short Term Lets and the Scottish Agritourism Sector

Letter from the Scottish Agritourism Sector on Short Term Lets

Good morning,

I write to you on behalf of the Scottish Agritourism sector.

“Growing the number and diversity of authentic agritourism experiences in Scotland is among the main ambitions of a new strategy designed to galvanise the country’s valuable agriculture and tourism sectors.

“Unveiled as part of the Scottish Agritourism Conference held at Perth Concert Hall on 10th November,Scottish Agritourism 2030 – The Strategy for Sustainable Growthsets out a shared vision for the sector. One that aims to sustainably develop the rural economy, protect family farms for future generations, build consumer awareness and loyalty towards local produce, and celebrate the history and heritage of these important Scottish communities.”

60% of Scottish Agritourism members have invested in their farm businesses to provide accommodation to visitors, whether it is self-catering, B&B or glamping. These members will be heavily burdened by additional unnecessary costs and uncertainty, when they are already regulated under existing H&S legislation. The proposals are disproportionate to the activity being undertaken by diligent, legitimate business owners.

At a time when Agritourism presents one of the main growth opportunities in the rural economy, with other European countries seeing agritourism annual value at levels of 1 billion euros and more, our ambition to create this level of rural economic development in Scotland will be impacted by this proposed legislation. It will also prevent many farmers and crofters from wishing to start an agritourism business, at time when farmers and crofters require to become more financial sustainable to build resilience to deal with a reduction in core farm support.

As a sector and an organisation, we oppose disproportionate regulation that will damage Scottish tourism and risk jobs in the onward supply chain that underpins local communities. Tourism, and our members, are still in recovery mode, and recent developments with the Omicron variant shows that the future remains precarious. These regulations could not come at a worse time for small businesses in Scotland.

We believe that this one-size fits all, onerous and disproportionate licensing system will damage Scottish tourism and discriminates against small and micro businesses like self-catering and B&Bs, especially in rural and remote areas, who should be supported for a sustainable recovery from Covid-19.

We question whether these proposals genuinely fit for purpose, in the wider public interest and will actually address the required policy objectives. Conversely, we believe it will detrimentally effect thousands of legitimate operators, for no measurable benefit.

The Scottish Agritourism sector is concerned that industry views have been ignored and evidence provided has been dismissed.

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has put forward a cross-industry and cross-party supported mandatory registration scheme with provisions for health and safety (also designed to be an exemption from licensing if preferred). We would encourage the Committee and the Scottish Government to consider why the ASSC’s proposal is deemed unsatisfactory, given that evidence from across Europe illustrates that registration is best practice? We would suggest that this would be a workable and proportionate solution that industry could support.

We look forward to continuing to work constructively with the Scottish Government and other industry stakeholders to get this legislation right, and protect Agritourism businesses in Scotland.

Yours sincerely,