The head of VisitScotland says the arrival of the £45m V&A museum could herald a new era for the tourism industry in Tayside and Fife.
Agency chairman Mike Cantlay said the landmark building expected to open its doors in 2015 is already boosting the profile of the whole region and will bring a flood of new tourists to the area.
He said such major capital projects are helping to sustain and increase visitor interest in Scotland as a holiday destination, while other countries have seen a significant downturn in trade.
Mr Cantlay highlighted debt-laden European states such as Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland as examples of countries where tourism has suffered in recent years as levels of investment have dropped off.
He said: ”One of the features that is amazing just now is that we still have capital investment rolling out across Scotland. We don’t have half-built hotels. We are still investing.”
Mr Cantlay said the waterfront redevelopment in Dundee an overall £1bn investment project which will include the landmark V&A building at Craig Harbour is a strong message of intent to the outside world.
”I visited Dundee earlier in the year and the note of confidence was just tremendous. That comes at a time when Scots in particular are staycationing and falling in love again with Scotland.
“Ten years ago Dundee was not an obvious staycation or day visit spot. But Dundee is going to be a real honey-pot for things to do for Scots throughout the whole year.
”I am delighted to see how the V&A is galvanising thoughts about how Dundee should take its tourism industry forward.”
The sector contributed £11bn to the Scottish economy last year with more than 270,000 jobs sustained by 20,000 individual businesses.
Mr Cantlay said the Winning Years initiative which will cover the three-year period from 2012/14 is designed to help the industry grow and take full advantage of events like the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and the Commonwealth Games.
Also, 2012 is the year of Creative Scotland and will celebrate the country’s cultural life.
Mr Cantlay said it was an opportunity to sell the country to the world as a premium destination giving good value for money.
”Over the next two or three years we have an opportunity to really move Scottish tourism forward,” he said.
”Value is absolutely crucial at the moment. That does not necessarily mean cheap; it means good value for the quality of product the customer is receiving.
”We need to be very careful to ensure Scotland has strong value.”