Snowy winter doesn't bring economic boom to Blairgowrie

Jan 21 2010 Blairgowrie Adv

Glenshee’s best snow season in decades is not necessarily an economic boom for the wider Blairgowrie area

WHAT is shaping up to be Glenshee’s best ski season in almost two decades has not triggered an economic avalanche for the wider Blairgowrie area.

Despite a boost in traffic heading to the snowfields, motorists rarely stop at Blairgowrie en route.

Blairgowrie Merchants Association vice chair, Kate Fleming, said most ski traffic bypassed the town via the one-way-system and usually well before local shops opened.

While some skiers and snowboarders stopped off in town on their way home for fish suppers, she said it was a far cry from the glory days of the 1970s.

“Back then when we had decent annual snowfalls, people used to book into local hotels for long weekends or week-long holidays,” said Ms Fleming.

“There was always plenty of skiers around and the Angus Hotel used to run discos for the ski crowd in a squash court that has since been converted into a warehouse.”

Another nail in the coffin for local ski-related tourism had been the advent of cheap European snowfield package deals.

“The majority of people going to Glenshee nowadays just do day trips.

“But I’d say that we have seen more tourists around town generally than we normally do at this time of year,” she said.

Royal Hotel owner and Blairgowrie and Rattray Regeneration Company board member, Iain McLean, echoed Ms Fleming’s comments, saying local ski-related tourism had been on a downhill slide since about 1985.

“The skiing business has been thinning out since then really due to disappointing falls that have forced people to look to the continent for their guaranteed two weeks of snow,” he said.

“Having said that, it’s encouraging to see these wee spells, although we don’t see a lot of skiers at the hotel as the majority tend to go up to Glenshee and back down in one day.

“We just don’t get spin-offs any more and sadly I don’t think we ever will again.”

However, Mr McLean added the Regeneration Company hoped to put Blairgowrie back on the map with incentives such as a planned visitors centre and a hydro scheme plugged into the grid to generate funds.

“It’s all about enhancing the local area and we have a long way to come back,” he said.