Dundee City Council insists visitor numbers are up – despite report including refugees as tourists

Dundee City Council is insisting visitor numbers have increased above pre-Covid levels, despite a new report on tourism including refugees as tourists.

The Scottish Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM) report, published last month, revealed visitors to Dundee increased by 1.7% last year compared with 2019.

The report – which was commissioned by the local authority – also showed there was a 23% increase in the number of people staying overnight.

At the time the figures were published, councillor Steven Rome – Dundee’s fair work, economic growth and infrastructure convener – said they showed tourism in the city had “rebounded” after the pandemic.

However the company behind the report have confirmed refugees, including those fleeing the war in Ukraine, may have been included in the data.

It comes as Scotland’s national tourism body, VisitScotland, announced they are pulling out of Dundee.

‘Can’t quantify’ how many rooms used by refugees

A spokesperson for GTS said: “Where we can identify Ukrainian refugees, we can exclude them from the report.

“This is straightforward if an entire hotel, for instance, is under government contract.

“Unfortunately, this is not the case in Dundee, so there may be rooms in the city occupied by Ukrainian refugees, but we can’t quantify how many, as hotels are under no obligation to disclose that data.”

More than 150 Ukrainians were still living in hotels across Dundee as of March this year, with Queens and the Apex among those providing rooms for families.

And councillor Fraser Macpherson, who represents the West End ward, said it would be disingenuous to view then as visitors to the city.

He said: “I’m aware regarding the tourism sector, there is positive news regarding visitor numbers.

“But it is vitally important that figures are accurate.

“We have welcomed Ukrainian refugees but I would not include them in tourism  numbers – they are here for completely different reasons.”

Council ‘confident Dundee has strong tourism offer’

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “A number of indicators are used to calculate the overall STEAM data for Dundee.

“The city council is aware that refugees are staying in Dundee, as they are across Scotland’s cities.

“We are confident this survey demonstrates that Dundee has a strong tourism offer, as is also reflected in the very positive impact report issued by V&A Dundee to mark its fifth anniversary.”