Editing South Ayrshire (section)

==Economy==
{{Further|Economy of Scotland}}
[[File:Spirit Aerosystems building - geograph.org.uk - 1733043.jpg|thumb|right|[[Spirit AeroSystems]] at [[Glasgow Prestwick Airport|Prestwick Airport]]]]

The economy of South Ayrshire, like many other areas, was badly affected during the worldwide financial crisis from 2009 to 2012. Despite this, total Gross Value Added for South Ayrshire has seen a steady increase over the last 20 years, reaching a peak in 2015 of £2.4 billion. South Ayrshire's GVA represents 1.9% of the total Scottish Gross Value Added income which is consistent with the previous 20 years. By 2022, South Ayrshire [[Gross Domestic Product]] (GDP) estimates stood at £2.710 billion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scotland GDP by region 2022 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1243834/scotland-gdp-by-local-area/ |website=Statista |access-date=17 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

The largest employment industry in South Ayrshire and Scotland is the public administration, education and health sector. Compared with Scotland, proportionally there are more South Ayrshire residents employed in this sector than Scotland, while there are proportionally fewer employed in banking, finance and insurance sector than Scotland. Despite being a coastal area, the smallest employment in South Ayrshire is in the agriculture and fishing sector.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=6065caa5d51d413eb02efbd088fe99c6|title=Story Map Journal|website=www.arcgis.com}}</ref>

===Regional Economic Partnership===

The council and its neighbours of [[East Ayrshire]] and [[North Ayrshire]] work together on economic growth as the Ayrshire Regional Economic Partnership, with support from the Scottish and UK governments and other private and public sector organisations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ayrshire Regional Economic Partnership |url=https://www.ayrshiregrowthdeal.co.uk/partnership/ |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>

===Employment trends===
[[File:Tarfessock View - geograph.org.uk - 1540014.jpg|thumb|right|Rural landscape in South Ayrshire]]

Across South Ayrshire in 2023, 47,500 people were classed as being economically active, with 44,700 people categorised as being in employment (36,800 employed by a business or organisation and an additional 7,500 people classed as self employed). In the same period, a total of 1,700 people in South Ayrshire were unemployed, an unemployment rate of 3.7% which is higher than the Scottish average unemployment rate of 3.5%.<ref name="nomisweb.co.uk">{{cite web |title=Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157432/report.aspx |website=www.nomisweb.co.uk |access-date=17 July 2024}}</ref>

Professional Occupations make up the largest employment figures based on occupation in South Ayrshire, with an estimated 8,900 people (20.0%) of the population employed in the area. Other large sectors of employment across South Ayrshire include the associate professional occupations sector (13.1%), the care, leisure and social care sector (10.2%) and managerial and directors occupations (9.1%).<ref name="nomisweb.co.uk"/>

The average gross weekly salary for a full time employee in South Ayrshire in 2023 was £753.40, higher than the Scottish average gross weekly salary figure of £702.40.<ref name="nomisweb.co.uk"/>

===Tourism===
[[File:Culzean Castle house and gardens 01.JPG|thumb|right|[[Culzean Castle]] & Palm Garden, a major tourist attraction in South Ayrshire]]

The tourism sector of South Ayrshire is a major contributor to the local economy, with the area having attractions including [[Burns Cottage]], the [[Robert Burns Birthplace Museum]], [[Turnberry Castle]] and [[Culzean Castle]].<ref>{{cite web |title=South Ayrshire |url=https://www.visitscotland.com/info/tours/south-ayrshire-031fb5ea |website=www.visitscotland.com |access-date=17 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Royal Troon Golf Club]] is featured on the rota of courses used for the [[Open Championship]], with the most recent Open Championship being held at Royal Troon in [[2024 Open Championship|2024]]. Additionally, the [[Turnberry (golf course)|Turnberry Golf Course]] has also hosted the Open Championship, the most recent being in [[2009 Open Championship|2009]]. However, since the course came under the ownership of [[Donald Trump]], the 45th [[President of the United States]], [[The R&A]], the governing body for golf said following the [[2021 storming of the United States Capitol]], that it had "no plans to stage any of its competitions at Turnberry" and would not do so "until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/55615022 |title=Trump National stripped of 2022 US PGA Championship |website=BBC Sport |date=11 January 2021 |access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref>

Other notable places of interest within South Ayrshire include:

*[[Ailsa Craig]]
*Bachelor's Club, [[Tarbolton]]
*Bargany Gardens
*[[Blairquhan]]
*[[Burns Cottage]]
*Robert Burns Birthplace Museum ([[Robert Burns]])
*[[Carrick Forest]]
*[[Crossraguel Abbey]]
*[[Culzean Castle]]
*[[Electric Brae]]
*[[Penkill Castle]]
*Souter Johnnie's Cottage
*[[Royal Troon Golf Club]]
*[[Turnberry (golf course)|Turnberry Hotel and Golf Course]]