LUC is pleased to have been shortlisted for a prestigious award at this year’s Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning.

In the Partnership category, our Scottish Marine Recreation and Tourism Survey project, carried out for the Scottish Government, has been recognised in an awards scheme that celebrates achievements in planning.

Using an innovative web-based survey approach, we collected spatial, social and economic data on the recreational activities people value around the Scottish coast. More than 2,100 individuals and representatives of 137 organisations told us about over 52,000 places they had visited over the previous 12 months. We then used the information to create a series of remarkable maps showing which areas of coast and sea are most important, accompanied by detailed analysis of behaviours, patterns of seasonality and expenditure. The results provide new insights into people’s use of the coast, including the suggestion that that annually, spending during recreation and tourism trips to the Scottish coastline contributes up to £3.7bn to the Scottish economy.

The Scottish Government and new Marine Planning Partnerships will use our analysis to inform marine planning as well as informing public and private investment over the coming years.

For more information on the awards, click here.