Photo: Luskentyre Beach, Isle of Harris

Welcome to the March VisitScotland eUpdate, giving you an overview of VisitScotland's current activities.

This month:

• Industry Marketing Opportunities: Find out what marketing opportunities will be available for tourism businesses from early March
  
• SCOTagent.com wins Silver Adrian Award for Excellence in Web Marketing
• New Quality Schemes: Exclusive Use Venue and Conference Venue schemes launching soon
  
• Business Tourism Seminar: Focus on European and North American markets
  
• EventScotland supports Glasgow International - Festival of Contemporary Visual Art

Industry Update

We are on target to integrate the 14 ATBs with VisitScotland on the 1st April 2005 and are currently going through a comparability and recruitment process with our staff to fill the new posts.

We’re pleased to see the VisitScotland Challenge Fund is proving popular with our trade partners who see it as an opportunity to secure funding for local projects that may, previously, not have found a sponsor. To date we’ve received more than 100 enquiries from tourism groups around Scotland, interested in applying for support from VisitScotland’s £1 million Challenge Fund.

More recently, the new package of marketing opportunities for the industry was launched. Further information on the new marketing opportunities can be found below.

For the latest update on the project to develop the integrated tourism network please visit www.scotexchange.net/tourism_organisations/to_new_scottish_tourism_network_main.htm

Marketing Opportunities

A package of business opportunities has been developed in consultation with the tourism industry and VisitScotland to replace membership schemes previously run by Area Tourist Boards.

From a cost of £95 tourism businesses will be able to buy a basic package to advertise in their local guide, have an entry on visitscotland.com, promotion in their local Tourist Information Centre and a wide range of other promotional material.

Tourism businesses can also buy into a wide range of national and international guides or one off publications like those going out specifically for London audiences or for specific campaigns like Autumn Gold. There are also specialist publications for business tourism and opportunities to take part in more than 40 trade and consumer shows being organised throughout the world to promote Scotland.

There will be opportunities to take part in a wide range of PR, web advertising and press advertising based around key niche areas like walking, golf, city breaks, wildlife and gardens.

Although membership is disappearing, all accommodation businesses will have to participate in a relevant Quality and Standards Scheme to be eligible to buy into these packages - as VisitScotland continues its commitment to raise standards of service and quality throughout Scotland.

Further information on the new marketing opportunities and local contact details can be found at

www.scotexchange.net/promote_your_business/pyb_latest_news/marketing_opportunities_2005.htm

Outdoor Access Code

VisitScotland is joining forces with Scottish Natural Heritage to produce foreign language editions of the new leaflet that gives a concise summary of the rights and responsibilities contained within the new Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

The six overseas language editions will be widely distributed throughout the Scottish Tourist Information Centre network and at public exhibitions in countries where the primary interest is in outdoor activities such as walking, cycling and riding. As well as these long established pastimes, the Code covers access rights for more informal activities such as picnicking, photography and general sightseeing.

Reference copies of the full Code will also be held in TICs, allowing staff to answer any detailed questions from visitors unsure of how the Code affects their intended outdoor pursuits.

ASVA Spring Seminar - Wednesday 4 May 2005

A diary date for the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions Spring Seminar. The venue is Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh - right next to the new Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. The focus is on Marketing and Creating Sustainable Markets and the line of speakers looks very strong. John Lennon from the Moffat Centre will start proceedings with an overview from the findings of the 2004 Visitor Attraction Monitor. Malcolm Roughead, Director of Marketing with VisitScotland, will outline the new structure and what opportunities it will present. Juliana Delaney, Heritage Director with the Continuum Group, will examine how to market authenticity effectively. There will also be case studies -specially selected operators from the Best Practice Benchmarking Study by Dr Terry Stevens will share their experiences with you in May.

For further details please see www.asva.co.uk

SCOTSagent.com wins Silver Adrian Award

The Trade Promotions Team is delighted to report that the www.SCOTSagent.com site won Silver in the category of Excellence in Web Marketing at the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International's (HSMAI) Adrian Awards for Advertising, Public Relations and Web Marketing.

The site, launched in September 2003, educates North American travel agents about Scotland and how to sell Scottish vacation products and has over 3000 registrants receiving regular updates on Scotland.
This recognition follows on from recent success at the Media Industry Newsletter's (MIN's) Integrated Marketing Awards, where SCOTSagent.com was a finalist in the customised website/microsite category.
The Adrian Awards, which were recently presented in New York, recognise marketing excellence in the travel and hospitality industry. The winners were chosen by a prestigious panel of judges from more than 1,350 entries received from 45 countries.

For more information, contact the VisitScotland Trade Promotions Team at TradePromotions@visitscotland.com

Scotland Newsletter

VisitScotland will be producing a trade newsletter for distribution to the Middle East/Asia/Pacific travel trade. It will also be distributed at Arabian Travel Market and the Destination Britain Pan Asia event. If you have any newsworthy items that would particularly appeal to these markets, please submit them to TradePromotions@visitscotland.com The cost is £50 +VAT for 150 words of copy and either two images or an image and logo. Please reply by Friday 18 March.

Agent@Home / Modern Agent

VisitScotland has undertaken 12 months of promotional activities with PMG media, who publish Agent@Home Magazine, Modern Agent Magazine and the ModernAgent.com website. A key element of this activity is the distribution of six Scotland destination e-Newsletters to PMG's database of 50,000 agents over the coming year. We would like to offer suppliers the opportunity to advertise in these newsletters for the following rates:

2 issues - £150 + VAT
4 issues - £275 + VAT
6 issues - £395 + VAT

Your feature in the e-Newsletter will comprise of 250 words of copy, your logo and image, and should be geared towards the travel trade. It will also feature your direct contact details. The first edition is to be issued in March, so please reply as soon as possible.

For further details please email linda.mcallister@visitscotland.com

SeaScotland

The SeaScotland campaign was officially launched with a press photo call on the 13 of February by popular TV and radio presenter Edith Bowman. Edith returned to her home town of Anstruther to head up the helm on the campaign. She said:
"I'm delighted to champion the new website seascotland.com, which details exactly what people can get involved in around the country and advises on some great accommodation deals so they can make the most of their visit to Scotland. Scotland not only has a beautiful coastline, but also has fantastic islands and secluded beaches, not to mention some of the freshest and best seafood."

The website provides a great opportunity to promote maritime and waterbased events throughout 2005. From Sailing Regattas to Surf Classics, Seafood Festivals to Exhibitions - www.seascotland.com offers a complimentary promotion opportunity for event organisers.

All event information and any questions to seascotland@visitscotland.com or call Mhairi Burnett 0131 472 2042.

Development of new Quality Schemes

In response to industry demand, the VisitScotland Quality & Standards team has been working on the development of 2 new schemes for business tourism venues. A scheme for Exclusive Use Venues will be launched in early March. This scheme will be restricted to 4 and 5 star venues which, in most cases, have a minimum of 3 letting bedrooms, provide a range of services to guests, including all meals and a range of activities and outdoor pursuits, and may or may not provide conference facilities.

A conference venue grading scheme is also in development. This is likely to be split into two specific sectors: establishments with conference facilities, and bespoke conference venues / centres. Criteria are currently under development and research into similar schemes is being conducted.
Quality and Standards would be happy to hear from interested parties who may wish to be involved in the piloting of these new schemes.

For further information on either of the above please contact Colin Houston, Development Manager in the VisitScotland Quality & Standards team, colin.houston@visitscotland.com 01463 723050.

NewsScotland

Business Toursim Unit's lively informative newsletter detailing all new and exciting developments in business tourism in Scotland will be available in spring 2005. This will be sent out to BTU's database of c 8000 contacts in the UK, Europe and North America.

The newsletter can be accessed on line at www.conventionscotland.com or in print from BTU on 0131 343 1608.

Scotland Means Business CD-ROM

BTU has produced a short CD ROM promoting Scotland as a destination for meetings, conferences and incentives to our key markets in the UK, Europe and North America. This will be distributed via direct mail to BTU's highly profiled database, as well as shown at national and international exhibitions and events attended by BTU.

Copies are available now from BTU on 0131 343 1608, or e-mail your request to businesstourism@visitscotland.com

BTU Business Tourism Seminar - Europe and North America

Edinburgh, Wednesday 9 March 2005
VisitScotland's Business Tourism Unit is delighted to announce that it will be holding an informal seminar focusing on business tourism from the European and North American markets. The event will aim to give our Scottish partners an overview of the work that BTU is undertaking in these markets and an insight into current and future trends within these important market places.

The day will include presentations by Shona Telfer and Karen Clarkson, Marketing Managers (Europe and North America), plus guest speakers from the respective PR agencies, Sales agencies and the US media buying agency.The event will take place at The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh.

The European session will run in the morning, followed by lunch and the North American session will run in the afternoon. The cost to attend both sessions will be £50 plus VAT (incl. lunch) alternatively you can choose to attend one session at a cost of £30 plus VAT.

If you are interested in securing a place, please contact shona.telfer@visitscotland.com or karen.clarkson@visitscotland.com

Edinburgh International Festival

Edinburgh International Festival is to receive £300K from EventScotland. The funding which has been matched by the City of Edinburgh Council is to help the festival develop and grow its marketing and world-class programmes.

Man Booker International Prize Ceremony

Edinburgh, recently designated first ever world 'City of Literature' by UNESCO, will host the inaugural Man Booker International Prize ceremony in June this year. The Man Booker International Prize will recognize one writer for his or her achievement in fiction. A judges' list of eighteen contenders for the inaugural prize was announced at a news conference in Washington DC last week, and included Margaret Atwood, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gunter Grass, Milan Kundera, Tomas Eloy Martinez, Ian McEwan, Cynthia Ozick, Muriel Spark and John Updike. The winner of the prize will be invited to Edinburgh to deliver a keynote lecture and take part in the official award ceremony, at the Royal Museum on 27 June 2005.

With support from EventScotland, the city - and indeed the nation - will take this opportunity to showcase its literary credentials to literary luminaries from all over the world, including authors, publishers, agents and a wide range of international media. As well as an exclusive awards dinner for 250 people and the prestigious lecture, Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature is developing a programme of hosting activities for this event. Plans include specially created literary tours of Edinburgh and beyond for guests, worldwide publication of the keynote lecture and tie-ins with the winner's work across the City's libraries, bookshops, universities and schools.

Glasgow International 2005

Francis McKee, curator of Glasgow International, recently announced programme details of Glasgow's first curated and commissioning Festival of Contemporary Visual Art, which will take place across the city from Thursday 21 April until Monday 2 May, 2005.

With over one hundred artists, contributors and venues currently taking part - plus more to be announced shortly - Glasgow International 2005 highlights include:

• TRAMWAY's hosting of a specially curated show from one of the world's premier collections of contemporary art
  
• Mexico's JUMEX COLLECTION, first ever European exhibition
  
• Newly commissioned work by Glasgow based and internationally renowned SMITH/STEWART at 64 Osborne Street
  
• NEIL MULHOLLAND's specially curated CAMPBELL'S SOUP exhibition at Glasgow School of Art and
  
• Iconic American artist, BARBARA KRUGER'S new installation at Gallery of Modern Art along with her specially commissioned billboard work at Glasgow's Central Station.

McKee also confirmed dates for next year's Festival which will take place from Wednesday 19 April 2006 until Monday 1 May 2006. EventScotland is funding this inaugural event in 2005 and has confirmed support for 2006.

2005 World Women's Curling Championship

Twelve of the world's top national curling teams will be in action in Paisley this March competing in the 2005 World Women's Curling Championship. Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Japan, China will be represented alongside the home nation - Scotland. At stake are the 2005 world title and final qualifying points for the 2006 Olympics.

The Championship will be televised by the BBC and broadcast across Europe, USA and Canada. In addition 6,000 spectators and over 400 international visitors are expected to attend matches at the Lagoon Leisure Centre throughout the Championship. EventScotland's support is being directed towards the creation of an Olympic-style event village and to support additional marketing activity around the event.

For information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and events calendar visit www.eventscotland.org

Hotels Needed for New TV Series

The BBC is making a new documentary about people in the UK service industry and is looking for hotels in need of a helping hand. The BBC is hoping to find a family run hotel with a minimum of 25 bedrooms where management are aware they have a problem, and want a solution but don't really know where to start. This will be a positive exploration of the ways in which hotels can aspire to offer a high level of service to guests. One of the industry's top consultants will be on hand to advise the most deserving hotel.

If you are interested in taking part, please call Chloë Rawlings on 0117 9747623 by Friday 11 March.