LUC proudly accepted an award from the Scottish Government this week at their annual Quality in Planning ceremony.

Our work on the Scottish Marine and Tourism Survey received recognition from the judges in the Partnership category which celebrates innovation in working collaboratively, at any stage, within the planning process.

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.