This funding will help a number of tourism and events businesses in key sectors who have received little or no support so far.
We will be administering nine* of the Scottish Government funds and will move our focus from marketing to funding and support for the next three months to ensure that desperately needed help is delivered quickly, to those most in need.
We have moved more than 100 staff from other tasks to get these funding streams organised and process them as quickly as possible.
We will announce more details about how to apply on VisitScotland.org in due course, but our aim is to have all funds launched by mid-February.
Funds we’re delivering on behalf of Scottish Government
- Pivotal Event Businesses Fund – in progress, closed to Expressions of Interest .
- The Sector Destination Operational & Market Readiness Fund – live
- Scotland Inbound Tour Operators – COVID-19 Business Support and Continuity Fund – Expressions of interest open 22 January
- Outdoor Fund, which has two strands: marine tourism and outdoor tourism – last week of January
- Event Industry Support Fund – late January/early February
- Coach Operators Fund – first week of February
- Visitor attractions Fund – week commencing 8 February
- Hostels Fund – week commencing 15 February
These nine* funds present a clean sheet – so those who have had COVID-19 related funding before can apply again. A business bank account will not be required – although evidence of running a business will.
Information about the funds will be communicated across the industry and with partners and you can find information on how to apply for each of these funds as they go live from our financial support for businesses webpage.
* The Outdoor Fund has two strands, combined with the other funds that brings the figure to nine.
We understand how tough things are for the tourism and events industry at the moment and know that the impact of the ongoing pandemic is making business survival increasingly difficult. There is therefore a need to deliver funding as quickly as possible.
We have huge sympathy for businesses across Scotland, and we continue to feed concerns back to the Scottish Government through the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group – which we chair – and the Event Industry Advisory Group in the hope that more support will be made available in the future.
