By Stefan Morkis

THERE WILL be no boycott of Scotland because of the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber, it was claimed yesterday.

Scotland’s national tourist body said it did not expect visitor numbers to drop because of the decision to release terminally-ill Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi from prison on compassionate grounds this week.

CBI Scotland has warned the tourism industry might suffer, while several American websites already feature comments from posters who say they will not visit Scotland in the future and boycott Scottish goods because of Thursday’s events.

Megrahi returned to a hero’s welcome in Tripoli but the reaction from Washington was far more severe.

Both President Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the decision by justice secretary Kenny MacAskill to release him.

Should the number of American visitors to Scotland fall, taken together with the recession, the effects could be catastrophic.

Around 340,000 trips to Scotland were made by Americans last year, around 14% of all visits by overseas tourists.

Americans also spent more money than other groups of foreign tourists.

Over the year, they spent £260 million, or 21% of the total income generated from foreign tourists.

However, Scotland’s tourist agency VisitScotland said they did not believe Mr MacAskill’s decision to release Megrahi will affect the number of Americans wanting to come to Scotland.

A VisitScotland spokesman said, “The strong and enduring relationship between Scotland and the United States continues, as will the friendship between the American and Scottish people.

“Our priority is ensuring that American visitors and tourists are extended a very warm welcome to Scotland.

“One unattributed website is not a significant factor when compared to the thousands of US citizens who visit and will continue to visit Scotland.”

However, one St Andrews hotelier—originally from Houston in Texas—said that some Americans might choose not to come to Scotland, but not enough of them to make a large difference to visitor numbers.

Jack Willoughby runs the Dunvegan Hotel with his wife Sheena, which is a particularly popular place to stay for American golf tourists.

He said, “There might be some who will be thinking about going to Scotland or Ireland, and decide on Ireland because of it.

“It may have upset a lot of people but I don’t think it will have a huge impact, although perhaps they should come out with another Braveheart movie.”

Mr Willoughby added that he did not think Megrahi should have been released.

“I am disappointed—I think they made the wrong decision, but I am pretty conservative,” he said.