New guide to bring tourists into the heartland of Fife

Heartlands of Fife looks to showcase ancient sites, facilities and natural heritage in the middle of the region – Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Levenmouth.

The areas often sit in the shadow of the East Neuk and St Andrews which soak up big numbers of visitors.

The new campaign hopes to involve local businesses and venues as well as local people to help grow the economy – and fly the flag for towns rich in heritage and packed with places to see.

Councillor Alistair Cameron said that tourism is currently an untapped source for the area.

He added: “Local hotels all seemed to be promoting St Andrews or Edinburgh, there was nothing for central.

“So we came together to create this – something tangible that could be handed out to visitors to really showcase what the local area has to offer.”

A total of 5000 brochures have already been distributed to venues, attractions, hotels and local businesses, and the response has been described as very positive.

Councillor Ian Cameron hopes that in promoting tourism, it will help grow the economy in Fife.

He said: “Everywhere seemed to be promoting things around us, but locally we weren’t utilising our assets.

“While promoting Fife will give a strong sense of place to locals, it would help grow a strong local economy too.

“By pushing local hotels and restaurants, we can increase tourism, and in turn create new jobs.

“Food in Fife currently makes up 30 per cent of the economy and we hope to see that grow.

“Some businesses have been a bit hesitant to sign up because it means promoting their competition too – but we’re trying to explain that it would be a bigger slice of a much bigger pie.”

Fife has numerous golf courses, and in the future it is hoped this will become a pillar of tourism, with events like golf tours taking place. 

Ian said: “We have all these golf courses in Fife, and there are obviously the big ones such as St Andrews, but we have a lot of public ones too.

“We’ve been looking into why visitors come to this area – and for example, if it’s a businessman, we would look at hiring out golf clubs so they can go use one of the local courses while visiting.”

Members of the Heartlands of Fife Local Tourism Association have all had a hand in putting together this exciting brochure which was produced by Fife Council Tourism Team and printed in Glenrothes.

Ian said: “It’s a great step forward but there is much more to be done by working together to link our attractions, create more added value, more capacity and more jobs.”