Impact of European Union funding on tourism in the Grampian Region

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has no specific tourism policy. Even though there are divergent views on its involvement in regional development, there is a consensus on the fact that the EU is involved by its principle role of 'Subsidiarity'. There is also continued participation of the EU in activities related to tourism development in the community. Undoubtedly, the EU is having an impact on regional development of members states. Research carried out shows the contribution of the EU in regional development and tourism. The EU funding has tended to focus on peripheral areas and where traditional industries are declining. Tourism related projects (such as visitor attractions) have benefited from such funding programmes, on the assumption that these projects will create employment and increase visitor numbers, as well as promote the economies of these regions. Consequently, this paper considers the contributions of EU funding of tourism attractions in the Aberdeen and Grampian region of Scotland and issues affecting the effectiveness of the attractions themselves.

Analysis of the effectiveness in the disbursement of the European Regional Development Fund for selected entities in the tourism economy

“…These investments have contributed to the increase in the access to recreational services, high growth opportunities for the realization of tourist and recreation activities, and transport accessibility within the region (Panfiluk, 2016a). Also, they raised the tourist attractiveness of the subsidised facilities (Nash et al, 2006). Research confirms that they have also contributed to the increase in the attractiveness of the region (Panfiluk, 2016c).…”

“…Research confirms that they have also contributed to the increase in the attractiveness of the region (Panfiluk, 2016c). They have a direct impact on the growth of the tourist attractiveness of the co-financed facilities; however, tourism companies that could contribute to the development of tourism, have not always arisen around these tourist attractions (Nash et al, 2006). The cofinanced tourist investments have created new workplaces, influencing the employment growth (Panfiluk, 2015b).…”

“…It should be noted that the available studies indicate that the project/objective, and, therefore, the effect of the subsidy, generates a different level of efficiency and influences the development of the tourism sector to a different degree (Crouch, 2007). On the one hand, it is pointed out that an increasing touristic attractiveness of a facility does not always automatically translate into an increase in touristic attractiveness of the region, and does not always translate into the development of tourism in the region (Nash et al, 2006). On the other hand, there are results of research that state a significant effect to the growth of the tourist attractiveness of the tourist region (Panfiluk, 2016c).…”

The Contribution of Residents to Collaborative Destination Marketing: Opportunities and Challenges

“…Furthermore, the active involvement of all the local players and the establishment of multi-actor partnerships are ISBN 978-81-936279-5-2 12th International Conference on Business, Education, Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies (BEHIS-18) Zagreb (Croatia) May [11][12]2018 expected to improve the overall sustainability of the final tourism product [4; 5; 6]. In addition to this, the adoption of a multi-stakeholder approach is very often a requirement of public funding schemes in the area of tourism [7].…”