In global terms, Scotland is a small country, and it used to frustrate me to see how divided we were in a lot of the things we did. Yet how quickly we can learn the lessons of life.

We make our living from tourism and have learned many hard lessons over this past year. However the industry has matured to become a force more unified than ever before.

If Foot and Mouth and September 11 proved anything, it is that when people work together there's an immediate impact and you can see it happening already. No-one would have believed me had I said to people this time last year they'd be where they are today. Then we were in the middle of the Foot and Mouth outbreak. There appeared to be no end to the crisis. Look at us now. Many people are reporting a very good start to 2002. Easter was good - our cities have never been busier over the period. They've had a very good winter. Beyond the cities, operators have also done well. Even when times get better, if we continue to work together and fight the competition rather than each other, we'll make huge strides. We're already starting to see the dividends - and they are coming along faster than I thought they would.

Foot and Mouth particularly proved to everyone - industry, government and the people of Scotland - that if tourism is badly hit, most businesses are affected one way or another. If visitors stop coming to Scotland, everybody suffers. It can be the printer or the laundrette; it can be big stores on Princes Street or the local village shop. People's perceptions have changed. They now realise that tourism is everyone's business.

I'd like to see the use of the word 'guest' instead of 'tourist' when we describe visitors. They are guests in our country. We all should treat guests in the way we'd wish to be treated ourselves if we were visiting somewhere else. We know what kind of things embarrass us and how things can be made easier if we don't speak the language. We should apply that knowledge in the high street when someone asks for directions, or in a petrol station when someone's looking for help. Wherever they are from, treat those people as our guests.

Economically tourism permeates the whole country. Everyone who comes here either for business or holiday wants to spend money. We can make it easy for them or we can make it hard. These lessons have been learned in part because we've started talking to each other about what we want to achieve. There's more communication going on now between people in tourism, and with Government and support agencies such as the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise and ourselves. Of course such dialogue must have a purpose and deliverable outcomes - we'll be making sure that happens.

The Framework for Action launched in March 2002 is a good example. People are already using it, ticking off action points, saying to themselves "I've got to do that" or "I've already done that". They're also asking themselves hard questions about what they've already done - if what was good enough last year is it still okay or needs reassessing.

Key to Scotland's success in the global market place is quality. Quality has four elements: cleanliness, a warm welcome, professional service and value for money.

Cleanliness: Today, people will just not accept - anywhere - any lack of cleanliness. Nor should they.

A warm welcome: Wherever you go you should feel welcome. People should be glad to see you. They should positively want to help you. After all, a smile and a warm welcome costs nothing at all.

Professional service: People should be poised and ready to meet your needs. Whether it's a dining experience or a drink in a pub, or when you go in a shop, you are entitled to expect to be well looked after, handled in a professional way.

Value for money: Means delivering what it says on the brochure. It's also about grading schemes and stars, as these are important to back up and formalise services and standards.

If all those things are right you've got a very high quality product. If you fail in any one of them, we'll all suffer.

Lastly, I would like to thank all VisitScotland staff for their support, loyalty and commitment over the past year. It has not been easy, but VisitScotland and the entire industry should be proud of what has been achieved and the strong foundations that have been laid for the future.

Peter Lederer, OBE
Chairman