I congratulate Joan McAlpine on securing her motion for debate this evening and note that it is one of the most comprehensive motions that I have supported in a very long time.

With your encouragement, Presiding Officer, I will give members the opening lines of “Tam o’ Shanter”, a famous poem by Robert Burns.

“When chapman billies leave the street,

And drouthy neebors, neebors meet,

As market-days are wearing late,

An’ folk begin to tak the gate;

While we sit bousing at the nappy,

And getting fou and unco’ happy,

We think na on the lang Scots miles,

The mosses, waters, slaps and styles,

That lie between us and our hame,

Whare sits our sulky sullen dame,

Gathering her brows like gathering storm,

Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.

This truth fand honest Tam o’ Shanter,

As he frae Ayr ae night did canter,

(Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses,

For honest men and bonny lasses.)”

As I am an Ayrshire man born and bred, and as I have been the MSP for Ayr for the past 17 years, it is a great pleasure and, indeed, a privilege to speak in the debate. As a son of the soil myself, I was brought up to have an affinity with Burns, the Ayrshire ploughman, and the language of Burns is still the language of much of the farming community in Ayrshire today. The particular dialect of broad Scots that I learned at my mother’s knee has given me insights into Burns’s remarkable work that are not so easily accessed by others. For example, apart from Emma Harper, how many people in the chamber know what to “spean a foal” means? Answers on a postcard, please.

That Burns, as part of the Scottish enlightenment, has had a remarkable impact on Ayrshire and the Scottish people as well as on the Scottish diaspora is beyond doubt. His poetry and letters have influenced millions of people, including philosophers, Presidents of the United States and working men and women the world over who readily identify with his works. As the MSP for Ayr, I have been lucky enough to be invited to many Burns suppers over the years, and one of my favourite ones is hosted by the Newton Stewart Burns club, where Alex Neil and I both spoke last year. Also as the MSP for Ayr, I regard myself as eating haggis for Ayrshire at this time of year, so it is fortunate that I enjoy it as well.

However, today we are debating the economic impact of Burns, which is significant for Ayrshire particularly but also for Scotland as a whole. I endorse all of what Joan McAlpine has drawn to our attention in that regard. The Robert Burns birthplace museum in Alloway is a must-see destination for those who are interested in his work, and it contains many artefacts from his life and times. Although I am open to correction about this, I believe that between 200,000 and 300,000 people a year visit the museum and the Burns cottage as well as the soon-to-be-refurbished Burns monument, which benefits the hotels and restaurants in Ayr and Ayrshire. Indeed, many hotels, restaurants and bars in Ayrshire have memorable names taken from Burns’s most famous works, such as the Brig o’ Doon house hotel, the Twa Dugs, Souters Inn and Willie Wastles. Robert Burns’s influence and attitudes still influence the way of life in Ayrshire today.

Although there is already a whole industry built around Burns in Ayrshire and Scotland, much more could be done to increase the number of visitors to Ayrshire. A relatively recent innovation is the Robert Burns humanitarian award, which is given every year to a suitable deserving and emblematic person selected from a worldwide stage. The award recognises their particular contribution and publicises Ayrshire and Scotland as well. Several festivals at different times of the year acclaim the work of Burns in Ayr, Ayrshire, Dumfries and elsewhere and bring welcome visitors to our relatively undiscovered part of south-west Scotland.

Although I applaud the success of the north coast 500 route as far as tourism development is concerned, many visitors to Scotland are not even aware of the magnificent landscapes and seascapes of the Firth of Clyde and the Solway Firth or that the A75 and A77 coastal routes are as good as—if not better than—the north coast 500 route. All were travelled on by Burns in his days as an exciseman and local farmer.

South-west Scotland—but particularly Ayrshire—is the hidden jewel in the crown of Scottish tourism. It has uncluttered roads—which members might like to note are easily navigated by camper vans—and magnificent restaurants such as the recently refurbished Tree House in Ayr. A warm welcome at every hotel and bed and breakfast awaits those who journey to the west to see for themselves the legendary sunsets over Arran and the Firth of Clyde.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we in Ayrshire are not good enough at making the many millions of people worldwide who have Ayrshire and Scottish ancestry, as well as those who have an interest in Burns, aware of what south-west Scotland has to offer. I have not even mentioned the championship golf courses of Royal Troon, Prestwick and Trump Turnberry or the 40 local authority courses that are easily available and lie within 20 miles of Ayr. Nor have I mentioned Dumfries house, which is a second home of the Duke of Rothesay, or Culzean castle, which was also designed by Robert Adam and is perched romantically on the cliffs above the Firth of Clyde.

Robert Burns, his work, his legacy and his landscapes are all part of a treasure trove that is waiting to be discovered by active tourists who make their way west off the M74. I commend them, and I commend Joan McAlpine’s motion to Parliament.