Highland Tourism Community Interest Company (Highland Tourism CIC) has grown from a standing start when it was formed in March 2021, fighting through challenges such as Covid-19.

It is now recognised as a leading voice for the region in tourism and has brought about some remarkable innovations that have attracted industry recognition and international praise.

Incredibly, considering the importance of tourism to the region and to Scotland, there has been no specific tourism strategy for the Highlands since 2014.

Indeed, pre Covid international travel to the Highlands declined with the number of trips and bed-nights dropping by 15 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

Yet National Geographic (the world’s leading multimedia source of stories in science, exploration and adventure) has listed the Scottish Highlands as one of the world’s best natural escapes alongside Slovenia, Azores, Big Bend National Park in Texas and Botswana.

This kind of global respect for the Highland region reinforces the opportunity for the Highlands to have a world-leading sustainable vision and to develop us as a premium environmental brand.