PKC hopes events will provide a £31million windfall

The council has set itself the bold target for 2024

Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) hopes to generate £31 million from events in 2024 - despite only one major showpiece scheduled until then.

The council has set itself the bold target following an increase in the net economic impact from £17m in 2013 to £26m in 2018.

But councillors questioned this target when a PKC officer said hosting the Royal National Mod in 2021 is the only major event currently on the horizon.

PKC adopted an events and festivals strategy in 2013 following the restoration of Perth’s city status in 2012.

The region has since hosted two major golfing tournaments - the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup at Glenagles - while Scone Palace played host to Radio 2’s Biggest Weekend.

Other major events taking place on a yearly basis include The Enchanted Forest, the Rewind Festival and the council’s own Winter Festival.

At a meeting of PKC’s environment and infrastructure committee last week, Cllr Mike Williamson questioned how the council could hope to generate £31m when none of these events were coming back to Perth and Kinross in the near future.

A council officer confirmed that other than hosting the Mod, there were no other events of “significant blockbuster status.”

The council report estimates over 700 events take place annually across Peth and Kinross.

Cllr Grant Laing agreed with his SNP colleague Cllr Williamson that PKC had “set the baseline quite high” when there is “nothing major coming.”

The council officer defended the target, saying it was “strategic” and the council “should be ambitious and bold.”

Cllr John Duff countered Cllr Laing’s point that “nothing major was coming” to Perth and Kinross by saying the Mod was a major event. He then challenged council officers on what they were doing to attract major events.

The committee was told a group works specifically on that and, as well as working with other local authorities, it works to support conference organisers.

Convener Angus Forbes quipped: “I would like to thank the events team (all one and a half of them) - they most certainly punch above their weight.”