The news that Inverness has been recognised in four separate categories in this year’s FDI European Cities of the Future 2019/2019 Listings has been very favourably received in the City. I look forward to attending the awards event during MIPIM this year, and to further developing the profile of the City of Inverness and the Highlands to a wider audience.
Scotland and Scotland’s Cities are well represented, however, while Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen may be more used to this sort of international exposure, it is a first for Inverness.
This is welcome recognition of the work that we have been doing, along with our partners to promote the growing Inverness economy and the future investment potential of the city. To be judged so favourably alongside a wide variety of European cities, on a whole range of measures shows just how far we have come.
The Tourism potential of Inverness is well known, not least because of its proximity to Loch Ness. With a range of new hotel developments in the pipeline, including the recent announcement that Dutch investors Vastinit are planning a new Moxy Hotel on a prime site close to the River Ness and to the City Centre, we hope to attract significantly more numbers to the city in the future.
The facts speak for themselves, recent research by Colliers International in their Scottish Hotel Index ranked Inverness first in Scotland for hotel development and acquisition. Factors such as strong demand, high occupancy levels and rising average daily rates contributed to this ranking and demonstrated the existence of a strong hotel market in the city with a proven track record.
The growing tourism market shows more potential for the future, recently the North Coast 500 Route, a circular touring route starting and finishing in Inverness has become an established brand attracting 29,000 visitors in its first full year of operations.
The importance of lifestyle is recognised in these awards as well. Here in Inverness we have always understood the value of complementing business opportunities with the right mix of lifestyle opportunities and we place a lot of emphasis upon this when working to attract new investment into the city. We have recently introduced a free, high quality WiFI service into the city centre that caters for visitors and for locals alike.
We have long recognised the economic potential, not just of the City of Inverness, but of the wider Highland region. The city is definitely a business friendly location, and that was also recognised in the FDI rankings. We are investing in the infrastructure of the city to improve communication links, and the City’s Airport has impressive connectivity both nationally and internationally.
The challenge for the City of Inverness and for the Highlands is to maintain the momentum set by this recognition, it is a great place to live, work and to do business and we look forward to continuing to scaling the FDI Magazine rankings as the economy of the City and the Region develops.
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