Chairpersons

• Andrew McKean, Renfrewshire Council

Deputy Chairperson

• Hilary Roberts, Fife Council

1. To attend and provide input to the SLAED Executive Group in relation to tourism across Scotland, providing sub-group minutes prior to their meetings.
2. To provide a strategic link between local authorities and national tourism stakeholder groups such as the STA (Scottish Tourism Alliance).
3. To work collaboratively and identify projects of scale that will assist in the delivery of Local Authority targets within the National Tourism Strategy: Tourism 2030.
4. To identify Local Authority Tourism and Industry issues and work towards influencing change.
5. To provide a forum for Economic Development Officers with a remit for tourism to meet and share and learn from best practice models/activity.
6. To provide a forum which circulates the latest updates on new developments and initiatives. Ensuring good communication between Local authorities in relation to the issues being faced by the tourism sector and identifying areas for possible joint working/collaboration.
7. Collaborate and partner with key national agencies e.g. Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Island Enterprise, VisitScotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, ASVA and others to identify opportunities for joint working.
8. To assist with the development of local/regional area tourism strategies/action plans providing input to support officers where relevant.

• Input to debate and discussions on any updates to the National Tourism Strategy: Ambition 2030 and ensure all Local Authority members views are fed to Scottish Government, Industry Leadership Group, Tourism Taskforce and the Tourism Leadership Group.
• Address key tourism issues impacting Local Authorities (COVID 19, Brexit, Collaborative Economy, Labour Workforce, Budget Pressures, cost of living / cost of doing business crisis) and working together to address issues coming forward from industry as a collective group.
• Collaborate and partner with agencies e.g. roll out of business support from Scottish Enterprise, HIE, Business Gateway, VisitScotland.
• Work collaboratively on Specific LA interventions to support the tourism sector and visitor economy.
• Provide a forum for LA Economic Development Officers to pull together in response to any major issues affecting the tourism industry e.g Covid, cost of living crisis, workforce/skills shortage etc.
• Deliver a forum that is engaging/impactful which will share opportunities for continuous professional development for SLAED Tourism Group members. It will develop a call programme with representatives from the key support agencies to work towards a collaborative approach to Tourism Development.