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UK Tourism and the Western Isles in Scotland |
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Written by Angus MacLeod
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Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
In the never ending search for interesting vacation destination tourists continue to open up new areas to tourism. However there are plenty of highly fascinating areas of the world that have always had a small degree of tourism which more and more people are now discovering to their delight. Also there are a number of vacation destination which were in decline but are now experiencing renewed interest. One of the most interesting places in the world which are seeing a marked increase in tourism are the Western Isles of Scotland.
The early UK tourists could be said to be more like explorers, than their modern counterparts, often traveling to difficult places to get to which were not often visited except for locals. European travel was generally limited to the very rich who indulged in the "Grand Tour of Europe" for educational reasons but mainly to meet new important friends and to generally have a wild time abroad.
In the United Kingdom, during the early days of the tourist industry, people generally tended to visit places not too far from where they lived or worked. Working men and women often had only the annual works outing to look forward to, which was attended by all of the employees while their work place was closed. Those of more means were able to venture further and some even went as far as traveling to the islands of St Kilda in the Western Isles of Scotland.
With the development of air travel, and its steady decrease in cost and increase in wages, many British families were now able to afford to take European vacations. Instead of taking the family to the likes of Pontins and Butlins holiday camps in the UK, families now visited beaches in Spain, the South of France and the Mediterranean. Alternatively visitors from abroad started to visit the UK and many chose to visit places with unique aspects such as the Western Isles of Scotland, which started to become extremely popular with American and Canadian visitors as a vacation destination.
Modern tourists seem to fall into two distinct groups, the typical 18-30 party animals, who go in search of the sun but end up in the bars, and those who now understand the dangers of overexposure to the sun and are in search of something a little different to the usual beach and bar vacation. UK cities seem to have increasing numbers of visitors with the like of Liverpool, which is benefiting this year with being the European Capital of Culture, being one of the most vibrant city vacation destinations.
The Western Isles of Scotland (mentioned above) are a small group of islands just off the Scottish west coast. Although there are over two hundred Isles only thirteen are still inhabited. These islands are amongst the most unique in Europe with unique landscapes, flora and fauna and it is for their uniqueness that many visitors choose to tour the islands.
Also known to many as the Outer Hebrides the group, of over 200 islands, has a few which are inhabited and well known. The Isles of Harris, Lewis, North and South Uist, Barra and Benbecula are the most well known and most popular with tourists but there are several other small inhabited islands such as Scalpay which have some interesting aspects for the visitor, not least the incredible Gaelic culture (which has Celtic and Norse influences).
Prehistoric man has left his distinctive mark upon the islands, of the Outer Hebrides, in the form of numerous standing stones and stone circles of varying sizes. The largest stone circle is to be found at Calanais (Callanish) on the Isle of Lewis. The standing stones at Calanais are generally considered to be amongst the most important sites in Europe and they are the only example of a stone circle with avenues (forming the shape of a crucifix). Calanais is a "must see" tourist attraction.
Genealogy is another factor in the recent increases in tourism to the UK, Scotland and the Western Isles. The Scottish people are amongst the most widely traveled peoples in the world and the Hebrideans are amongst the most widely traveled in Scotland. This has resulted in a massive number of people from all around the world being able to trace their roots back to the islands. Will increases in the interest in genealogy many people are choosing to travel to the Outer Hebrides to research their family trees.
Most probably the main reason why so many people visit the islands of the Hebrides these days is the simple fact that they are far more accessible than they ever were before. Although the Hebrides Isles are still considered difficult to get to the fact that you can now fly to a few places there is vastly different than only a few decades ago when it could take a few days.
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