VisitScotland is spending £1.5m to target tourists from the UK, Europe and Canada as the industry tries to cope with a potential drop in visitors from key markets such as the United States.

The tourist body says it remains too early to tell how badly numbers will be affected this year but is taking prompt action to respond to the strength of the pound against the US dollar, fuel price rises and the credit crunch.

“Some businesses are reporting significant declines; others significant growth,” said a spokeswoman.

“This mixed picture appears to hold across the country. It is not clear at this stage that any one area or type of business is doing much better than another.”

VisitScotland is increasing marketing in areas of opportunity including Canada, Europe, northern England and Scotland, while still maintaining a presence in more challenging markets such as the United States. A total of £1.5m has been diverted for these marketing campaigns.

“It is about being responsive,” said chairman Peter Lederer. “There are areas of opportunity as well as threat and we need to exploit this.

“The strong pound makes it expensive for people to visit from the United States. The strong euro makes it expensive for Brits to holiday there, which means that more people holiday at home, but at the same time it makes Scotland better value for European tourists.

“It is a fluid situation and everyone — the public bodies like us and the private sector — needs to be dynamic in the way we deal with it.”

One of the key markets for VisitScotland will be Canada. A £200,000 advertising campaign is under way to promote Scotland, including a focus on Homecoming 2009, the Scottish government’s campaign to get expats to visit Scotland during the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’s birth.

Lederer said he remains optimistic that Scottish tourism can see out the problems but admitted some businesses were struggling to cope with cost pressures.

“In the current climate, increased costs cannot be passed on to customers which in turn increases pressure on our businesses,” he said.

“We have to all work together to get through these tough times.”

The agency said it remains confident that its ambition to grow tourism revenues by 50% by 2015 is still achievable.

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