The number of people working within Scotland’s tourism sector has hit a record high 206,000 – five years since the introduction of the National Tourism Strategy.

Latest figures from 2017 show an overall increase of 24,500 jobs in the tourism industry – from 181,500 – in the five years since the launch of the strategy in 2012.

Large urban areas have, predictably, the largest concentrations of the country's tourism jobs, with The City of Edinburgh having the highest rate of tourism employment, followed by Glasgow City, Highland and Aberdeen City.

Tourism is, however, one of the most important employment sectors for Scotland’s rural communities too. In Argyll & Bute, there are 69 tourism jobs for every 1,000 people – the highest number per head of population in the country. This is closely followed by Highland (68), City of Edinburgh (64), Perth & Kinross (60) and Orkney (57).

“These figures show positive news for the sector, with an overall rise in jobs since the National Tourism Strategy came into place," said Chris Greenwood, senior tourism insight manager at VisitScotland.

"The visitor economy causes a ripple effect that touches every industry, business and community in the country – from laundry services to life sciences.

"Tourism is the driving force for providing the jobs of today and tomorrow – for every £60,000 spent by visitors, a new job is created in Scotland.”