Introdution

Background

Transport Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, has responsibility for the operation and maintenance of Scotland’s strategic road network which connects Scotland's major cities, towns, airports and ports enabling the movement of people, goods and services.

The strategic road network comprises all of Scotland’s motorways and trunk roads, it is a hugely diverse network of roads ranging from the ten-lane M8 in the centre of Glasgow to single carriageway sections in the west Highlands.

The Scottish trunk road network map | Transport Scotland shows the extent of the strategic road network for which Transport Scotland is responsible. All other public roads are local roads and are the responsibility of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.

Document Purpose

This document provides guidance primarily to Scottish tourism businesses on Transport Scotland’s responsibilities for brown tourist signs on Scotland’s strategic roads. The guide is intended to help applicants to know if their business will be eligible for brown signs and to understand the process of applying to have signs erected.

The guidance is not a replacement for the ‘Trunk Road and Motorway signposting Policy and Guidance’ (2006), but rather should be read in conjunction with the policy and guidance.

Importance of Tourism to the Scottish Economy

The tourism sector is of vital importance to the Scottish economy.

  • In 2023 there were 103 million total overnight and day visitors in Scotland with an associated expenditure of £10.7 billion.
  • Spending by visitors in Scotland generated £13 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish economy and contributed around £7 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents around 4% of total Scottish GDP.
  • In 2023 there were 16,045 sustainable tourism businesses in Scotland (9% of all Scottish businesses) supporting 245,000 jobs (9% of all Scottish employment).

Tourist attractions and tourist facilities make an important contribution to this economic activity and it is important that visitors are able to find their way to these destinations.

Tourist Signs

A tourist signs purpose is to direct people to a tourist destination in the final stages of their journey. However, tourist signs are just one of the many ways in which a tourism business can help visitors reach their intended destination easily and safely.

Tourist signs are not advertising signs and therefore are not a substitute for effective marketing.

In order to be effective, tourist signs need to provide clear and consistent directions to drivers, enabling them to reach their destination safely. Tourist signs should be seen as a means of guiding visitors to their destination and should supplement rather than duplicate information already provided on other directional traffic signs.

Tourist signs are traffic signs and as such are regulated in legislation. The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 provides general provisions for traffic signs and sets out the powers and duties of roads authorities in respect of the placing of traffic signs. The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 as amended for Scotland (referred to throughout this document as TSRGD), specifies the type of traffic signs and the manner in which they may be used on roads.

Tourist Destinations

The TSRGD define a tourist attraction or tourist facility as being a permanently established attraction or facility which,

  1. attracts or is used by visitors to an area;
  2. is open to the public without prior booking during its normal opening hours; and
  3. is recognised as a tourist attraction or facility by the appropriate national promotor of tourism (VisitScotland in Scotland).

The following are some examples of tourist attractions and tourist facilities;

Tourist Attractions

  • visitor centres
  • theme parks
  • historic building and properties
  • ancient monuments
  • zoos
  • museums
  • parks and gardens
  • natural attractions
  • tourist shops
  • sports centres and stadiums
  • golf courses
  • concert venues
  • theatres and cinemas

Tourist Facilities

  • hotels
  • guesthouses
  • visitor information centres
  • bed & breakfast establishments
  • restaurants
  • holiday parks
  • caravan and camping parks
  • picnic sites
  • youth hostels
  • garden centres
  • visitor participation establishments (e.g. potteries, cook schools, etc.)