Loch Lomondside pictured by Graeme Mccormick from the site earmarked for Flamingo Land.
By Loch Lomondside resident Graeme Mccormick
This area is earmarked for Flamingo Land, enjoyed by many people daily as it is just now.
there is a much bigger issue here. Tourism has to be managed. Places like Luss, Skye , NC500, are really becoming unpleasant to live. In Europe locals are taking direct action.
I wonder about the economic case for large tourist developments. The business case for Loch Lomond Shores always looked dodgy to me, yet it survived because of initial public investment and probably a feeling that it couldn’t be allowed to fail.
The countries with the best quality of life don’t depend on tourism as the main source of their economy. The Nordics, Switzerland, Ireland and Austria all have successful and high profile tourist industries but when you look behind what drives their economies tourism is not the main contributor.
We probably need a national and regional conversation on managing tourism and what should drive our local economies.