Appendix 3. Income Generation and Savings Options Analysis
A3.1. Purpose
This appendix consolidates the findings from the income generation and savings research undertaken for the VMP and presents the full longlist of potential revenue and savings options. It draws on the following evidence sources:
- Collaborative Creative Conversations on Funding Tourism (CCC)
- Exploring Tourism Income Generation Virtual Roundtable (ETIG)
- One-to-one discussion with Shetland Islands Council (SIC)
- Internal Operational Review of Council services that support tourism (IOR)
- Our Orkney, Our Story community and industry engagement (OOOS)
- Scottish local authorities benchmarking analysis (SLAB)
- Targeted further research (TFR)
The appendix identifies all options emerging from the evidence base and provides an initial remit assessment and outline of practical and financial feasibility considerations. It does not evaluate options or determine priorities.
A3.2 Longlist of income generation and cost savings opportunities
The research identified a wide range of potential opportunities across infrastructure and service charging, commercial and retail activity, visitor access and ticketing, premium visitor experiences, and funding, governance and delivery mechanisms. The following longlist presents all ideas identified across the evidence base, including contributions from community and industry stakeholders, Council officers, other local authorities and targeted further research.
However, not all options fall within the Council’s statutory powers, remit or appropriate sphere of influence, and some reflect community perceptions rather than verified operational feasibility. Some activities are already in place and may have scope to be optimised, while others are in development. The longlist is therefore not a set of recommendations.
The following table presents a longlist of income generation and savings options identified through the evidence base.
Table A3.1. Longlist of income generation and cost savings opportunities
Infrastructure and Service Charging
| Option | Brief description | Financial effect | Evidence Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Public toilets use | Nominal mandatory charges or donation mechanisms at the high-volume sites and at new or upgraded facilities | income + savings | CCC; IOR; OOOS; SLAB, TFR |
| 2. Car parking | Charge at honeypot locations and sensitive sites | income + savings | CCC; ETIG; OOOS; SLAB; TFR |
| 3. Coach parking or drop-off | Charge at honeypot sites and town pinch points | income | CCC; ETIG; IOR; OOOS; TFR |
| 4. Group visits | Booking fee or invoiced per-person donations at key attractions (e.g., St Magnus Cathedral and museums) | income + savings | CCC; SIC; OOOS; SLAB; TFR |
| 5. Motorhome overnight stays | Charge for overnight stays at future aires sites | income + savings | CCC; ETIG; OOOS; SLAB, TFR |
| 6. Tourer management system access | Subscription fee, booking commissions and overnight stay charges via digital management platform for campsites and aires | income + savings | TFR |
| 7. Coach and motorhome waste disposal | Charge for use of existing motorhome waste disposal locations and future motorhome and coach sites | income + savings | CCC; ETIG; IOR; OOOS; SLAB; TFR |
| 8. Heavy vehicle access to B-roads | Charge for coach, motorhome and other heavy vehicle access to B-roads on key tourism routes (necessary local agricultural and service vehicles excluded) | income + savings | CCC; ETIG; IOR; OOOS; TFR |
Commercial and Retail Activity
| Option | Brief description | Financial effect | Evidence Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9. Retail offer development and enhancement | Optimised museums retail range, new St Magnus Cathedral (SMC) retail, joint online offer for museums, SMC and Orkney Library and Archive (OLA) and pop-up retail in key locations | income | CCC; SIC; IOR; OOOS; TFR |
| 10. Café offer enhancement | Improvements to food and drink at Scapa Flow Museum | income | IOR; TFR |
| 11. Council venue hire and events | Differential hire pricing for commercial vs community use of SMC, museums and OLA, and paid regular and special events and activities programme | income + savings | CCC; SIC; TFR |
| 12. Community hall hire and events | Hire of community halls and paid community-run events | income | SIC; TFR |
| 13. Voucher and gift card programmes | Experience vouchers and gift cards at participating Council and community venues | income | IOR; TFR |
| 14. Orkney.com commercialisation | Sponsored listings and premium placement and booking commissions via Orkney.com | income + savings | CCC; SLAB; TFR |
| 15. Family history consultancy | Paid consultancy for OLA family history research, itinerary planning related archive services | income + savings | SIC; TFR |
| 16. Cycle hire optimisation | Improved and extended cycle hire offer at Council campsites and hostels | income + savings | IOR |
| 17. Left-luggage service | Paid left-luggage service at libraries or visitor centres | income | IOR, TFR |
| 18. Commercial meeting room leasing | Leasing of meeting rooms as office space (e.g. Stromness Library) | income + savings | IOR |
| 19. Customised cruise visitor information | Invoiced donations for customised branded visitor information for cruise passengers at Stromness Library and other Council locations | income + savings | CCC; IOR; OOOS |
| 20. Commercial visitor information services | Paid visitor information services and sponsored content delivered through visitor information centres | income + savings | CCC; SIC; IOR; OOOS; TFR |
| 21. Community-run visitor centres and hubs | Retail, donations and commission on ticketing, booking and other services | income | CCC; SIC; IOR OOOS |
Visitor Access and Ticketing
| Option | Brief description | Financial effect | Evidence Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22. Orkney Card | Visitor pass bundling museums, attractions, transport and unified visitor giving, with revenue share across participating sites and optional visitor donation add-on for potential future community benefit fund | income | CCC; SLAB; TFR |
| 23. Resident loyalty card | Resident-only discounts kept distinct from visitor products | income (indirect) + savings (indirect) | CCC; TFR |
| 24. Heritage passport and stamp | Low-cost booklet or app encouraging multi-site visiting and upsell, with optional visitor donation add-on for potential future community benefit fund | Income | CCC; TFR; OOOS; |
| 25. Central booking office | Commission-based physical and online booking for tours, transport and accommodation | Income | CCC; IOR; OOOS; TFR |
| 26. Integrated travel and attraction bundles | Ferry or bus plus attraction entry bundles with revenue share, with optional visitor donation add-on for potential future community benefit fund | income | CCC; SIC; OOOS; TFR |
Premium Visitor Experiences
| Option | Brief description | Financial effect | Evidence Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27. Scapa Flow boat tours | Standard Scapa Flow cruise to Hoy for Scapa Flow Museum and special private tour options | income | CCC; TFR |
| 28. Community-led cruise shore excursions | Small-group, community-run experiences, with revenue share and optional visitor donation add-on for potential future community benefit fund | income | CCC; SIC; OOOS; TFR |
| 29. Specialist cultural tours | Paid expert-led behind-the-scenes tours focused on conservation, craft and collections at SMC, museums and Council-owned heritage sites | income + savings | CCC; SIC; OOOS; TFR |
| 30. After-hours heritage experiences | Paid early or late curated heritage access with expert interpretation at SMC, museums and Council-owned heritage sites | income | CCC; SIC; TFR |
Funding, Governance and Delivery Mechanisms
| Option | Brief description | Financial effect | Evidence Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31. Orkney visitor donation scheme | Coordinated donation scheme with clear ring-fenced purposes across participating sites and services | income | CCC; SIC; OOOS; TFR |
| 32. External funder engagement | Ongoing engagement with external funders to align access to multiple funding programmes to deliver VMP and STIDP priorities | income | CCC; ETIG; IOR; SLAB; TFR |
| 33. Community-led tourism organisation | Future arm’s-length organisation to deliver tourism projects and support community benefit | income + savings | CCC; TFR |
| 34. Destination Management Organisation | Future community-led to coordinate destination management, strategic planning, industry alignment and long-term tourism leadership | savings | CCC; IOR; OOOS; SLAB |
| 35. Targeted donations campaign | Coordinated campaign to improve giving prompts and persuasive messaging across physical sites (e.g., SMC, museums, heritage sites, local nature reserves), digital channels and printed materials, encouraging donations, legacies and sponsorship | income | SIC; IOR; OOOS; TFR |
| 36. Cruise community contribution | Ring-fenced community contribution from visiting cruise ships | income | CCC; ETIG; OOOS; TFR |
| 37. Cruise Ship Booking and Confirmation Policy review | Structured review of the Harbour Authority’s Cruise Ship Booking and Confirmation Policy to optimise berth allocation and revenue. | income | IOR; OOOS; TFR |
| 38. Operational management trust | Future arm’s-length trust to manage Council-owned operational assets such as car parks and heritage sites | income + savings | CCC; OOOS; SLAB; TFR |
| 39. Community asset transfers | The transfer of management or ownership of a public asset to a local charity, community trust, or social enterprise | savings | CCC; SIC; OOOS; TFR |
| 40. Local authorities partnerships and collaborations | Collaboration with other local authorities to share costs and resource, improve access to external funding and maximise benefits | savings | CCC; ETIG; SIC; OOOS |
| 41. Point-of-entry levy | Levy at arrival points, subject to enabling legislation | income | SLAB, TFR |
A3.3 Remit assessment
Each of the income generation and savings options in Table A3.1 has been assessed against the Council’s remit and statutory powers (see Section 2.2) to distinguish between options the Council could deliver directly, influence through partnership, support others to lead, or cannot undertake.
Category A: Within Council remit
Options the Council could directly implement through mandatory duties, permissive powers or regulatory powers
Category B: Council can influence
Options the Council cannot deliver alone but could influence through policy, negotiation, partnership or strategic alignment
Category C: Council can support
Options led by others where the Council could act as enabler, adviser or partner
Category D: Outside Council remit
Options the Council lacks statutory powers to deliver or that sit wholly with another organisation
Table A3.2. Council remit assessment
Infrastructure and Service Charging
| Option | Remit category |
|---|---|
| 1. Public toilets use | A |
| 2. Car parking | A |
| 3. Coach parking or drop-off | A |
| 4. Group visits | A |
| 5. Motorhome overnight stays | A/C |
| 6. Tourer management system | A/B |
| 7. Coach and motorhome waste disposal | A |
| 8. Heavy vehicle access to B-roads | A |
Commercial and Retail Activity
| Option | Remit category |
|---|---|
| 9. Retail offer development and enhancement | A/B |
| 10. Café offer enhancement | A |
| 11. Council venue hire and events | A |
| 12. Community hall hire and events | C |
| 13. Voucher and gift card programmes | C |
| 14. Orkney.com commercialisation | B |
| 15. Family history consultancy | B |
| 16. Cycle hire optimisation at Council campsites | A |
| 17. Left-luggage service | C |
| 18. Commercial meeting room leasing | A |
| 19. Customised cruise visitor information | A/B |
| 20. Commercial visitor information services | C |
| 21. Community-run visitor centres and hubs | C |
Visitor Access and Ticketing
| Option | Remit category |
|---|---|
| 22. Orkney Card | B/C |
| 23. Resident loyalty card | B |
| 24. Heritage passport and stamp | B/C |
| 25. Central booking office | C |
| 26. Integrated travel and attraction bundles | B/C |
Premium Visitor Experiences
| Option | Remit category |
|---|---|
| 27. Scapa Flow boat tours | C |
| 28. Community-led cruise shore excursions | C |
| 29. Specialist cultural tours | A/B |
| 30. After-hours heritage experiences | A |
Funding, Governance and Delivery Mechanisms
| Option | Remit category |
|---|---|
| 31. Orkney visitor donation scheme | B |
| 32. External funder engagement | B |
| 33. Community-led tourism organisation | C |
| 34. Destination Management Organisation | B/C |
| 35. Targeted donations campaign | A |
| 36. Cruise community contribution | A/B |
| 37. Cruise Ship Booking and Confirmation Policy review | A |
| 38. Operational management trust | B |
| 39. Community asset transfers | B/C |
| 40. Local authorities partnerships and collaborations | B |
| 41. Point-of-entry levy | B |
A3.4. Practical and Financial Feasibility
Each of the revenue and savings options will require detailed consideration of its practical and financial feasibility, including indicative costs to implement and operate, technical and infrastructure implications, staffing and governance implications, relevant stakeholder engagement, partner involvement (if applicable), and process and system requirements. These feasibility considerations provide a framework for assessing risks and delivery requirements, forming the basis for identifying which options can realistically be taken forward in the short, medium or longer term.