Tourism is of course important to many countries across the world and the majority of governments do their very best to encourage it whenever possible. It is unfortunately one of the most unpredictable areas of the economy where external events can have a huge impact on the numbers of tourists. We can see now in places like Egypt where political unrest has virtually destroyed an important tourism sector, or Zanzibar where two tourists where attacked and numbers have similarly plummeted. It takes a lot of good will and effort to counteract incidents like these, especially when people want to feel safe when on holiday.
However sometimes positive benefits can be created, without warning. Ireland for instance had a big boost to it’s tourism sector with the success of the TV show Game of Thrones simply because it is largely filmed there. Other benefits go on for years such as the famous list produced by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891.
This list was created by the co-founder of the Scottish Mountaineering club basically to detail and categorize all the Scottish peaks over 3000 feet. Ever since that time visitors have come in droves every year attempting to climb them all and tick off the peaks from their own lists. It formed the basis of mountaineering and hill walking in Scotland, pastimes that form a huge percentage of Scotland’s tourism sector.
Not all the tourists come to complete Munro’s of course, although over 5000 since the 1980s have completed the entire list. Sir Hugh Munro made the country well known for the pastimes though and people are attracted to the Scottish culture and way of life that it represents.
Scotland’s countryside and mountains are probably it’s biggest tourism attraction and brings visitors from all over the world. Many people now are starting to appreciate the huge impact the work of Sir Hugh Munro has had on this country and believe that he should be added to Scotland’s Hall of Sporting fame in recognition of his work.
If you’re interested in travelling to Scotland and perhaps climbing a few Munros yourself then there are lots of web sites to help you get started. You can get lots of information on the BBC web site and indeed some programs, for those outside the UK then this video may be helpful – BBC Iplayer overseas.
For more information- check here.
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