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Wow; no posts here .
Yes and No is my answer .
It's a good idea to mark the well known and the undiscovered
scenic routes . But the state of some of the roads
is shocking and for an oil producing nation sounds like a joke!
Scotland should have some of the best quality roads in the
world , to exactly match the quality of the magnificent scenery .
It's a disgrace and it's time for Independence otherwise
we can sit and be weak , silent and expect the status quo ,
while London gets a makeover !

What we need is a social media website which links all the attractions together and encourages visitors to visit lots of different places whilst creating their own travelogue?

Oh, we've already got one!

www.bagging-scotland.com

the problem in Scotland with tourism is VISIT SCOTLAND having previously owned a B&B I found that the "tourist board" was run by the " blue rinse brigade" All they wanted was to fill their own small hotels and B&B's ( taking a ridiculous 10% booking fee) they were not interested in actually creating facilities for the tourists.

Also the official side were only interested in Golf & Fishing, if you did not offer these services your got an "up turned nose". I have tried to promote Perth-shire as Europe's best mountain biking destination (which it is) but just got strange looks from elderly immigrant B&B owners

i'll cut to the chase.

in scotland we need to.

1. create a network of signed tourist DRIVES for the car bound. As an "enthusiastic" driver I can think of at least 10 routes in Perthshire alone that if waymarked would set many pulses racing.

I.e, Crieff -Amulree - Kenmore- Fortingall - Tummell - Pitlochry -Bridge of Calley - Blairgowrie - Stanley - Perth - Crieff.

100 miles of motoring magic.

2. create a network of long distance walks and mountain bike routes that are integrated with public transport. i.e.

West highland way - Great Glen - Inverness to Perth - Perth to Edinburgh - Edinburgh - Glasgow.

3. improve the road network, the A9 and A82 are simply atrocious, and the "road to the isles" Stirling- Aberfeldy- Tummel Bridge - Rannoch - Glen Coe - Fort William should be resurrected in to an asphalt reality,

4, remove all blue rinser's from visit scotland.

My road would be the Summer Isles road from Ullapool to Achiltibuie. Absolutely fantastic. We should film these roads and use them for tourism adverts.

Patchbruce, agree that visit Scotland needs a major revamp, and a lot of new, young, dynamic blood.

When you think of what it could be like compared to the mediocrity we get...grrrr.

Good idea Douglas.
Nova Scotia markets its roads this way for the many US and Canadian tourist who visit each year.
CalMac have recommended routes of course, but we could easily promote Argyll etc Loops; Lighthouse Trails; Clifftop Tours; Castle Circulars; Links Golf Loops; Trossachs Trail; etc etc.
With the weakness of Ye Olde Pounde Sterling we have a lot to promote.
Slainte Mhor

I used to live in the Highlands. Hotel prices are extortionate. We really need to get 'trails' including cars/walkers and other travellers with ample affordable living spaces along the routes. But petrol is still too expensive - by some distance - to want to drive for pleasure. If Scots could afford to do a bit of touring and travelling within Scotland, then many of the financial problems would be eased.

And a slogan for the A82? Put the Bonnie in Scotland...

Spot on Fickle Finger. I'd like to take a drive along the coastal roads around Ullapool way, but the high price of petrol is very off-putting, and that's before I even look for B&Bs, hotels etc along the way.

I noticed on a recent programme about Northern Ireland how they have invested in rural areas ,a cohesive scheme with electric cars. Obviously a fair amount of money has been invested in regular areas to recharge the cars but you can see the benefits. Either in the highlands or borders where you could take a leisurely drive to appreciate the amazing scenery ,information where chargers are situated would allow all tourists to meander (I believe some electric cars last approx 100 miles )from A-Z .Good for the environment,economical for the tourist and spending at decent facilities where the chargers would be available.

The other thing which would be a real boon is, prior to a visit to Lisbon last year ,The Lisboa Card was advertised heavily on every site,really pushed with tourists in mind.A 3 or 5 day card (approx £23 ) which meant you could jump on any L.A bus,tram or train with this card. As tourists when we got on the wrong bus it was'nt a problem to get off and jump on the correct one. With the Commonwealth Games coming up would'nt it be great if every town ran something similar because I know how confusing our transport system is in this town far less Glasgow or Edinburgh.Funny enough when we stopped to ask directions ,the young Portuguese guy was just back from working in tourism in Stirling.

Good to encourage a bit of diversity in tourist visits. We should try to get some of these routes available with the car hire companies at airports etc, or even as a service available on the GPS direction systems. Unfortunately we need to tackle the drunken and abusive behaviour from football supporters in city centres, trains and buses that effectively make them no go areas and many tourists are shocked by the Scots' use of swear words so frequently when talking.