Scotland’s rural estates and farms are well-positioned to capitalise on continued growth in experience-based tourism, with strong interest from consumers – particularly Gen Z and Millennials – for activities based around food, nature, heritage and the outdoors.
An expanding body of research points to consumers increasingly prioritising their discretionary spending on leisure activities and experiences. According to a recent survey of 2,000 UK adults by Grant Thornton UK*, 40% now prioritise spending on experiences over material things, a figure that rises to 54% among 18- to 34-year-olds.
New research carried out on behalf of Mastercard** also highlights that top of the list of visitors’ wants are travel, food-based experiences, live events, film- and heritage-related activities, all of which rural estates are particularly well placed to offer.